Um, okay. Did I ever mention my kids are weird? LOL. On Friday I was in the mood for a walk, and was also feeling ambitious. Thankfully, dh was up for it as well. I wanted to attempt a long walk to a new park, but dinner was running a little late and we got a late start. We realized we'd never make it. Probably a 30-45-minute walk one way. I was just happy to walk.

So on the way we were trying to cut through the school and I pointed out the track to the kids. The kids LOVE to run around in circles, so the sight of the track was like heaven on earth. At home they run round and round endlessly around the kitchen island. There are many bumped heads and encouragement to slow down, but running around in circles is like heaven on earth for them - we just let them do it. I am sure we are terrible parents, but I don't know - it's really hard to get them not to run around.

Anyway, so this whole giant loop was quite amazing to them. BM ran one lap in just under 3 minutes and was off on another one. LM has do to everything BM does so he also ran 2 laps.

BM couldn't be any happier and LM was yelling "This is awesome!!" the whole time. If only I had thought of it, should have brought them to the track ages ago. I told dh - well when they refuse to nap - I think you have a new "weapon." LOL. Run them ragged at the track.

I couldn't help but wonder if any casual observer would think we were insane. As BM insisted that we time his laps. I imagine the whole thing could look pretty bad - making our toddler run laps - LOL.

Anyway, BM insisted he wanted to run a mile last night. We went to the track (they mostly ran the entire way there and back as well) and they ended up doing 3 laps. I think they both did. BM's time had slowed a bit, and he really wanted to run a full mile. We told him he should probably work up to it a bit more. Mostly I was worried about LM trying to keep up with him. He was running 4.5 minute laps.

But I have the feeling we will make it back to the track tonight and let him run a mile.

Well, that is certainly cheap entertainment.

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Dh and I were going to go to the movies last weekend but we never made it for various reasons.

We went yesterday and dropped off the kids at the drop-in care place. They told us rates go up tomorrow. They suck you in and then raise the rates. !! Up $1/hour.

We have been trying to swing 1 date a month, and they also have sent us a ton of coupons, so I think we'll survive.

Of course, if I think about it, it makes me cringe. 'Twas $40 for 2 hours without the kids. Yikes! They childcare was about $25, and we paid $15 at the movies. (Matinee).

On the flip side, it was absolutely amazing to drop off the kids and do something. Our parents are GREAT about giving us time alone, and their daycare will take them on occassion at night. But all of this takes great care and planning. & with our parents, a 2-hour drive. IT was so weird just to say, "let's go out" and drop off the kids.

I think we likey.

& the kids LOVE this place so they had a blast.

At that cost though it is a luxury we can afford no more than once a month. It was actually our April date which we hadn't gotten to with tax deadlines and all.

In May we have a date - a volunteer appreciation dinner - which is always fun.

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I assumed gas would be more pricey in LA but in the paper there was a story on gas prices and gas is on average 2 cents a gallon cheaper there, than here. I think our best bet is not to fill up the tank in the middle of nowhere. Where the high prices will be. But that is good to know. That maybe gas won't be any worse there. Woohoo.

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I am fed up to here with my health insurer. We have always paid the higher price for co-pay insurance with our HMO. Which means sure we had a $50 co-pay last year (no small beans) and insane insurance premiums, but we have never had any hassle and everything is pretty much covered. I've never received a bill more than $50 or anything like that. We never receive statements or bills - we just had the comfort knowing most anything we would need was fully covered.

Of course, ideally, this is the insurance I would love to keep, but it went from insanely expensive to completely unaffordable, as they push their subscribers more to HDHPs.

So we signed up for the HDHP and I Was thinking it wasn't so bad. Our total out-of-pocket and premiums are lower than they were last year. (I think our out-of-pocket was honestly a good $3k higher last year though it was all stuff we generally never would have used).

So I was starting out looking at this quite favorably. We had a lot of doctors visits early in the year and they charged very little up front. They also sent me the average charge for various services, and it didn't look so bad.

Then I realized this was a false sense of hope.

They bill slower than molasses so the bills are starting to roll in. We eventually got a $400 bill for dh's hearing check. Which we thought had only been $75.

I am not sure how much they will bill for the ambulance for BM, but they recently sent us a notice for $1500. I admit the drive is a bit far (not like the hospital is down the street) but when I had googled ambulance costs the most I saw was $500. ??????? What in the hell would cost $1500 for someone who was borderline if they even really needed it. Not like they hooked him up to machines or anything costly.

So I try not to get too upset about it as it was not the bill. For all I know the bill will be $500. I just don't know.
But the "cost" is apparently $1500.

I have never seen bills and non-bills like this before. I liked when it was all behind the scened.

Anyway, this is the kicker though. The kicker! I got a bill friday for $100 for lab work in 2007. I was livid. It was for dh and he likes to deal with this stuff. So I handed it to him to take care of. I said, when you call, tell them in the last 30 years I have NEVER received a bill. Likewise, I don't understand why it takes ONE YEAR to bill for simple lab work. I think it is an error since we were under the copay plan last year and the copay was $10.

So I know the bill is wrong. But I am just livid that they seem to be going back through old charges and treating them like we were in the HDHP. I didn't pay an extra $300/month insurance last year for crap like this.

Anyway, I had a terrible thought that dh had been told originally he prepaid these lab tests and he made a big STINK about it when they tried to charge him. In the end, after they removed the $10 charge we found out that we had been misinformed in the first place and the prepayment was not for the lab - was for something else. I don't remember the exact sequence of events, but I remember learning after the fact that the $10 was a valid charge - after they removed it.

So I have a fear it has something to do with that. Like they are going through old records.

I am sure dh will work it out and just pay the stinking $10. But if I had any idea I would have gotten a $100 bill? Would have paid $10 then.

I almost hope this is it because I would hope this means no more surprise bills for 2007. Ridiculous. At least this would be a logical reason they would go through and see we never paid for it. But it just makes me nervous. What next? This certainly doesn't apply to our 2008 deductible.

Likewise, I have a fear we will get bills for 2008, well into 2009. No sigh of relief here if/when we get through the year under our deductible. IT would be like, let's wait a year and see. I think this whole 12 months to bill thing is completely ridiculous. It is 3-months and going as far as these emergency room charges - the first bills started to roll in last week.

Anyway, so it takes 1 year to bill for certain things, and I keep getting notices and statements and random bills all over the place. The bills are really hard to keep on top of. One itemized all our visits for the last 3 years (thought it didn't charge anything pre-2008). Of course I had to pull that one out and check this lab test was not on there. IT wasn't.

I "only" have 4 bills to compare any future charges to, for now, but I imagine in the long run this will turn into a nightmare. Since I am getting on average one bill every few days.

I imagine by the end of the year I will have 50 random bills that I will have to scour through as 2008 charges roll in well into next year and I am checking to make sure we are not double charged for anything.

So this is how the other half lives?

All I can think is thank goodness we had the premium insurance through my pregnancies. No paperworks; no bills. The thought just gives me a headache. Where we would be if I was pregnant with this freaking HDHP.

Yes, this is the first year that I feel our health plan is not bankrupting us. Yes. There is a plus there. But the hassle factor is like 1000-fold. I am not enjoying this at all. Is this the trade off?

I keep wondering how they keep costs down with this insanely inefficient billing. I imagine all this stuff generally goes on behind the scenes anyway. Only difference is that us and our pocketbooks are now in the loop. It's so convoluted though. Egads!

You know, for the long term I had considered getting into medical billing. (If you can't beat them; join them) or getting in at the accounting department of our HMO. For the benefits.

I have always said I could/would never work for the IRS. I would go insane. I can't tell if this is better or worse. IT's about the same caliber. I don't think I could do it. Just big, inefficient bureaucracy. I better start working on another pan...