A follow-up to all this health insurance rigmarole: I discovered Friday that because my employer
has been deducting my health insurance premiums through their plan, they deduct
them pre-tax. So terminating this overpriced coverage bumped me into a higher tax
bracket, which means I have been fighting to get insurance through the
marketplace for three months only to find that now that I have done so, it
actually puts me in a worse financial position. My take-home pay is higher, but
once I pay for my health insurance premiums post-tax, I will actually have less
money than had I just left the whole thing alone.
[insert sad trombone music: *womp-womp-WOMP*]
I went home from work Friday night completely defeated. A
little angry, but mostly just beaten down, because there is pretty much no hope
of me getting a raise at work, since I work at a cash-strapped social services
non-profit. Many of the staff here are working multiple jobs to pay their
bills. I don’t know anyone who is getting their family’s insurance through the
company because it is so cost-prohibitive, and the salary increases we
occasionally get do not keep pace with the cost of living.
It is a frustrating position to be in when you believe in
the mission of an organization but realize you can’t afford to work there.
So the writing is on the wall. I need to move on. But the
800-dollar question is, to where?
Oh, and by the way, California is running out of water. So
there’s also that then.
But then the world also made this:
 |
| Source: attackofthecute.com. Naturally. |
So something is going right out there. Right? You think?
* Technically, the glass is not half-empty or half-full. It
is always full – half with water, half with air. Didn’t I blow your mind this time? Didn’t I?
2 comments:
Oh, Lisa. I am so sorry to read these past two posts. I can completely understand and will only type three words: Defunct Cover Oregon.
And now we have just gotten through tax time. Thank goodness it was our accountant's job to figure that one out (the health care portion) for us but we haven't gotten his bill yet, so I hope I'm not speaking out of turn.
Sending all the BlahBlhas love and light. You are not alone.
Oh, yuck. You were involved in that mess? I'm so sorry.
Well, my story only gets worse. I went through all that heartache only to be told, when my kid got sick and I called to get my subscriber number, that I haven't paid for my health insurance. DESPITE THE FACT THAT BLUE SHIELD HAS CASHED MY CHECK. They can't find it. They can't find it! We are two weeks in to another ridiculous hellhole of calling and emailing and getting nowhere. In desperation I took to my long-unused Twitter account to see if I could get their attention. It sort of worked (both Covered CA and Blue Shield responded) but I still have no resolution and they are threatening to terminate my coverage and make me start all over again, which would mean I have now gone two full months without health insurance for my family.
You can't make this level of incompetence up. It is crazy. My comment is getting so long, I am actually going to post it, with some additions.
I am also going back to Twitter, because.
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