Good news...
Pete arrived home safe and sound from Ghana today.
He is well and looks good.
He ate a hearty dinner and now is fast asleep! :-)
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SURPRISE!!!
Last week I learned that unbeknownst to me, on July 1st I had joined the almost 44 million Americans with no health insurance coverage.
I didn’t find out about this happenstance until when I went to pick up some prescribed meds at the pharmacy. Confident that this was simply a mistake and that I was indeed insured, I asked the pharmacist to double check.
She called my insurer.
“No, I was no longer in the system.”
No warning. No notice.
I made some calls. Sure enough, though some blunder by someone, my insurance had lapsed. My policy was suppose to have continued intact through the Cobra Plan.
First thing I had to do was to take a deep breath and remember that I was OK, I was not alone in this world, and I had it within me to do whatever I needed to deal with this situation. Then I started to work.
My mind, of course, wandered to all the worst case possibilities. What would I do if I had a medical emergency? What resources were available? Did we have the ready funds which I could get at quickly in case something happened before I got it all straightened out? I guess that is natural.
It took a persistent nature, many hours, countless phone calls, some good advice, and lots of money, but it looks like I am finally back in the system.
I kept remembering that it was not important who was to blame, or who dropped the ball. I just wanted to do what I could to rectify this issue. And, for once in my life, I did not give in to fear. This is good. Maybe I'm learning.
All through this experience, I kept wondering what happens to people who are old and ill, those who do not have the funds or the capacity to do something about these kinds of problems. No wonder so many people fall through the cracks!
About Forty Four Million people in this country have no health insurance! That is scary. And, that is just plain wrong. This situation weakens us as a people. And, in the end, this situation costs us all more money. I believe we can do something about it. I believe we must. It is time.
I was lucky. So, I will use this experience to strengthen my committment to help bring about a change.
The more I experience in this life, the more I'm convinced that the difficulties we face are gifts. It is always best to be grateful for everything. So, I am grateful that this situation happened while Pete was in Ghana. It gave me an opportunity to stretch. However, I must admit that I sure will feel better when I have my shiny new insurance card in my hot little hands.