Monday, December 27, 2004
Despite my earlier post of today...
...I was up early paying bills and looking through boxes of papers in an attempt to determine what our final estimated tax bill is so I can get it out before the end of the year. Although it's due in January, if it gets in before December 31st it's posted to this year. I think it will help us if it's posted for this year, although the "help" will be in the form of cutting our April tax bill only a little.
All other bills except medical bills were figured and paid. This is why Mom's arising was put off so long today. I decided to awaken her at 1100 since she stayed up late last night, almost to midnight. At 1045 I attacked my last bill, full of about $90.00 in over charges (that's right folks, a phone company bill) and, as it turns out, an additional $28.00 in overcharges last month. Since I had it all figured out I didn't think it would take long to address the problem.
If you read the daily meal stats you'll notice that I took her 'breakfast' blood sugar at 1210. I was still on the phone with the phone company. They were, of course, trying to figure out the same thing I already figured out. I think it was about 1220 when everything was figured out to their satisfaction and mine and we parted, me with a much decreased bill, them with profuse apologies for their "oversights". God, I hate the business world...but unless I absolutely have to get nasty I am always polite and patient when negotiating these "oversights". Seems to work better.
The medical people can all cool their heels. This is what always happens when my mother goes into the hospital: I provide all her insurance information (she's Medicare/TriCare for Life) to the hospital. The hospital processes it all and presumably sends it on to all the visiting providers (consulting physicians and radiologists) who bill separately. I know, absolutely, that the hospital sends all my mother's information to the providers...I've asked them about this several times when going through provider bills. But, amazingly, the providers' billing departments never get it right. They always 'forget' to bill TriCare and tell me the hospital neglects to include this information. I learned after my mother's first hospital visit that this is a widespread, and apparently approved, medical scam to garner two payments on one bill. The first time she was in the hospital in 2002 we got a bill from a consulting physician. I was not nearly as savvy about medical billing procedures as I am now. Because I misread the "documentation" and since the bill was only $36.00 I paid it. A month later I received notification from TriCare that they were billed and paid the final $36.00 on the account. It took me three more months of calls which degenerated into extreme cynicism on my part to wrest that $36.00 out of the provider's office. Now, I let them spend about six months' worth of paper and computer time and employee time repeatedly billing us until I feel like contacting them and calling them on their "error" in insurance billing.
If you go to Today's Dinner Stats post, you'll notice that my mother's blood pressure is almost back to normal. It's so normal I'm considering dropping her lisinopril back, but not quite yet. I'm a little worried since it's not yet, I'm sure, a result of regular exercise. We haven't been doing her exercises regularly and she hasn't been very mobile. Dropping blood pressure in her can also signal severely anemic bouts and/or dehydration so I'm being very careful this time. I'll probably take a couple more blood pressures throughout tomorrow, wait it out for a few days then take her in for the long overdue 'monthly' CBC and see where we stand. Overall, though, she's feeling good and doing good.
We were both way under the weather today. I ended up taking a very hard three hour nap, so hard that I had to remind myself how to walk when I arose. That hasn't happened to me in years. Mom also wasn't up much today and retired early. We're both in good moods, though, despite my business slow-down reported in my earlier post today, which turned out not to be as slow as I would have liked.
Before I laid down I was not in the best of moods although I wasn't advertising it. Suffice it to say that I lulled myself to sleep with fantasies of dying in some sort of freak accident so that I wouldn't have to continue this rugged, intense section of caregiving that's going on right now, all the more rugged and intense because I so desperately need a break. I guess the sleep must have cleared my system of some 'need-a-break' detritus because I'm feeling better this evening, a bit more optimistic about the days and months ahead and very optimistic about my mother's life.
All other bills except medical bills were figured and paid. This is why Mom's arising was put off so long today. I decided to awaken her at 1100 since she stayed up late last night, almost to midnight. At 1045 I attacked my last bill, full of about $90.00 in over charges (that's right folks, a phone company bill) and, as it turns out, an additional $28.00 in overcharges last month. Since I had it all figured out I didn't think it would take long to address the problem.
If you read the daily meal stats you'll notice that I took her 'breakfast' blood sugar at 1210. I was still on the phone with the phone company. They were, of course, trying to figure out the same thing I already figured out. I think it was about 1220 when everything was figured out to their satisfaction and mine and we parted, me with a much decreased bill, them with profuse apologies for their "oversights". God, I hate the business world...but unless I absolutely have to get nasty I am always polite and patient when negotiating these "oversights". Seems to work better.
The medical people can all cool their heels. This is what always happens when my mother goes into the hospital: I provide all her insurance information (she's Medicare/TriCare for Life) to the hospital. The hospital processes it all and presumably sends it on to all the visiting providers (consulting physicians and radiologists) who bill separately. I know, absolutely, that the hospital sends all my mother's information to the providers...I've asked them about this several times when going through provider bills. But, amazingly, the providers' billing departments never get it right. They always 'forget' to bill TriCare and tell me the hospital neglects to include this information. I learned after my mother's first hospital visit that this is a widespread, and apparently approved, medical scam to garner two payments on one bill. The first time she was in the hospital in 2002 we got a bill from a consulting physician. I was not nearly as savvy about medical billing procedures as I am now. Because I misread the "documentation" and since the bill was only $36.00 I paid it. A month later I received notification from TriCare that they were billed and paid the final $36.00 on the account. It took me three more months of calls which degenerated into extreme cynicism on my part to wrest that $36.00 out of the provider's office. Now, I let them spend about six months' worth of paper and computer time and employee time repeatedly billing us until I feel like contacting them and calling them on their "error" in insurance billing.
If you go to Today's Dinner Stats post, you'll notice that my mother's blood pressure is almost back to normal. It's so normal I'm considering dropping her lisinopril back, but not quite yet. I'm a little worried since it's not yet, I'm sure, a result of regular exercise. We haven't been doing her exercises regularly and she hasn't been very mobile. Dropping blood pressure in her can also signal severely anemic bouts and/or dehydration so I'm being very careful this time. I'll probably take a couple more blood pressures throughout tomorrow, wait it out for a few days then take her in for the long overdue 'monthly' CBC and see where we stand. Overall, though, she's feeling good and doing good.
We were both way under the weather today. I ended up taking a very hard three hour nap, so hard that I had to remind myself how to walk when I arose. That hasn't happened to me in years. Mom also wasn't up much today and retired early. We're both in good moods, though, despite my business slow-down reported in my earlier post today, which turned out not to be as slow as I would have liked.
Before I laid down I was not in the best of moods although I wasn't advertising it. Suffice it to say that I lulled myself to sleep with fantasies of dying in some sort of freak accident so that I wouldn't have to continue this rugged, intense section of caregiving that's going on right now, all the more rugged and intense because I so desperately need a break. I guess the sleep must have cleared my system of some 'need-a-break' detritus because I'm feeling better this evening, a bit more optimistic about the days and months ahead and very optimistic about my mother's life.
