My company's open enrollment period for next year's medical, dental, and vision insurance started today. Before this year, I had never really thought all that much about insurance other than "do I have it and how much will prescription medications cost." When I was pregnant with Henry, I gave my insurance a slightly more critical look, but only to know my out of pocket max and whether or not anesthesia was covered.
That changed this year. During our open enrollment meeting last year, I remember my boss saying "we are only offering one medical insurance option this year, but it is a really good plan." I didn't think all that much about that comment back then, but I thought about it all of the time this year. My insurance is really good. Really good. Without getting into too many specifics or talking too much about the finances of cancer, I still have not met my out of pocket max for the year and will provide one example of how great my coverage has been. The itemized bill for my 33 radiation treatments was over $19,000. I owe $459 of that.
$459 is still a healthy check to write (I don't really write checks, but that sounds better than "healthy card payment to make online"), but $459 is quite do-able compared to what it could have been. I have a lot of other examples of bills like that but won't bore you with details. My insurance is fantastic, and I am so very grateful that my company took the time to research and provide us with such an excellent plan.
I am also so happy to report that the plan has not changed for the 2016 calendar year. My company did add a lower-cost plan for next year as an option for those who do not anticipate needing regular medical care (does anyone really ever anticipate that). I elected to keep us all on the current plan that I know is really good. I'd rather have excellent coverage and anticipate that I will always opt for the higher-premium/better-coverage plans moving forward.
I'm very grateful for wonderful health insurance.
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