The Many Joys of Insurance

I know that I haven't been very active on the site lately, so I wanted to let you all know what's been going on in the life of The Budget Queen this week. As you all know, Liam was supposed to have surgery last Tuesday. However, when he went in to the doctor on Monday for his pre-surgery exam, he had tonsilitus! So, we decided to try another round of anti-biotics to get him well enough for surgery. Tomorrow he will see the doctor again to try again for surgery on Tuesday. He has been doing much better, but today he started having diahrea. I know, it's crazy, but if we don't do this surgery he won't get better. So, I hope that they will do it this week. We have been hibernating all this week to keep him away from any potention illnesses, so I haven't been out shopping very much. Infact, I JUST got my grocery shopping done today...I normally shop on Thursday. My husband, The Budget King, watched the kids for me today so that I could get a bit of shopping done, so I will let you in on all of the deals I found.

First, here is what I have been fighting all week. We have been having some serious issues with the baby's insurance. As of this moment, I will be paying up to $3,800 for this surgery. 3 months ago we applied for the LA-Chip Affordable Plan for him and he was accepted. Well, because we already had insurance and adding him would be free, I chose not to take the LA-Chip plan. The baby continued to have problems, and with my insurance I was having to pay for everything, so I decided that I did, after all, want the LA-Chip plan. I was still getting the bills in the mail for the LA-Chip policy, so I called them and asked them if I could pay the past due balance and get him back on the plan. They said that I could and that he would be active right away, but he wasn't! Everyone we called gave us a different answer. When it came down to admitting for the surgery, both the doctor and the hospital told me that I would have to pay full price because the LA-Chip plan is still not active. So, for the entire week, I have been calling everyone that I possibly can to try to fix the problem and get the policy active. I have talked to over 20 representatives from the Medicaid office, the Lousiana Office of Group Benefits, the Lafayette Health Unit, Catalyst Rx....you name it, I have tried. Apparently the program is very new and they have never seen a case like mine so they are doing everything that they can to fix it. It has gone from the local, to the regional, and now the state level to get it resolved. So, please pray that the insurance goes through because they will cover 90% off the surgery....tomorrow I have to pay a deposit of $1700 just to check in. IF the LA-Chip kicks in, I will be reimbursed.

As far as shopping goes for this week, I actually ventured off to Super One. Although I normally go to Wal-Mart because they price match, everything I was going to price match was from Super One, so I decided to go there for a change of pace. Turns out they had tons of unadvertised deals, which I posted in the forum. So, I was really glad that I went. I spent more than I normally do this week because of the baby's surgery. I bought everything that I could possibly think of that the baby would be interested in eating, just because I want to be prepared for a loss of appetite. I also stockpiled a few of those unadvertised deals that I couldn't pass up and bought some things in bulk because they were cheaper per ounce.

Today, I went to CVS, Target, and Walgreen's. At CVS my transaction was like this: I bought a box of SoyJoy bars for $6 and got $6 in ECB's. Then I bought 2 boxes of CVS Allergy Relief and used my $6 ECB's from the SoyJoys to pay for them. The difference was about $2. Then I used those ECB's plus 2 $1 off Playschool coupons to buy the Playschool wipes that were on sale. So, my final cost was about $3.50.

At Target, I went on a hunt for the 75% off toy sale. It was a great sale with 3 isles of toys on sale from 30% off to 75% off. I was able to get some great deals on presents for a birthday party and for Christmas next year. There were even baby sets. You just have to check it all out for yourself!

At Walgreen's I ran into the perfect clearance sale. There were shampoos, conditioners, and styling products on sale for $1.09 to $1.59 and I had coupons for almost all of them! I ended up paying $.68 for 4 bottles. I wish I had more coupons! I posted the clearance sale in the forums too.

As for the website, the new site is on the way and is expected to be done at the beginning of March. It will include everything that we already have plus more! I will have a kick-off meeting at the end of this week with Bizzuka and they will show me some preliminary ideas for the site. I can't wait! There are so many things that are happening, I can't wait to tell you all everything! I will be sure to post as new things come up.

I hope that you all have a great week and continue to post on the site while I am out for a day or two after the baby's surgery. If you see anything while you are out and about, please post it! I appreciate all of you so very much!

P.S. I was interviewed and photographed by The Daily Advertiser today, so please be looking for me in the paper!