Health Insurance Cost Took A Big Leap

Is it possible to get my blog back up and running.  It has been a busy year of selling our home and moving into a new one.  There has been no down time to read or write.  Today is here and it is already Halloween.  This year has flown by and I am comfortable and warm despite a big drop in the outside temperature as a blast of cold air is blowing in upon us.  Started catching up on some hot topics that I like called medicine and science.  I am always intrigued about what is new in medicine.

I missed The Light the Night for LLS the second year in a row.  Life has been moving along at lighting bolt speed and September was packed with a to do list.  We went to closing on our home the night of the annual LLS walk and I totally forgot that September was also B12 (Pernicious Anemia) awareness month.  It is never to late to catch up and make a donation.

I have rested a lot since we got rid of our other home.  Having two homes was exhausting and my energy level is not what it used to be.  Just started catching up here at the new home which we absolutely love.  We have a beautiful view out the back of a wooded area with a tree line that is bursting with fall colors.  It is going to be interesting watching the snow come in from the west  as we are about 8 feet off the ground due to a lookout basement.  The back of the house is facing west with view from a triple sliding glass door.  I wish that view was the ocean instead of snow.

So what is new for 2020  health insurance.  The premiums went up and the out of pocket jumped to $6000 per individual.  It was $2000 five years ago.  The drug copays all went up along with doctor visits.  It is safe to say a lot of people will be self care.  I feel sorry for families with long term illnesses.  We think long and hard about going to an ER because of a new ruling that started in 2018.  If you go and it is determined that the visit is not life threating the insurance won't pay.  I have a friend who's husband went for chest pain and it turned out to be GERD. They had a whopper of a bill as a lot of test were run to rule out a heart attack.  It is a hard to know what is wrong when experiencing chest pain.  We all know if it is chest pain don't hesitate to go to the ER,  but be prepared to have insurance decide if it is life threatening.   You may have GERD  and severe anxiety when the bill comes.

Sometimes I think they want us to skip the doctor and meet with an agent from the insurance company. They have a protocol list for your ailment and they seem to think they know what is best for all of us.  However our bodies are all unique and we need individualized health care.  I still recommend seeing a doctor. The doctor has years of education and training to individualize your care when they can get the insurance company to agree.  The new talk at the doctor office visit is I'll have to make sure that the insurance will allow us to do a test.  As a patient we must ask the insurance company if we are covered for test and is the provider covered by our insurance.

No wonder that everyone has so much stress as everything we do now days has to be approved by someone.  Life goes on and we adapt.

                                                      Happy Fall !

Life is beautiful!!
Elizabeth :)