Monday, February 07, 2011

It's Fine Needle Aspiration Time

We're heading out to Spokane this afternoon to get the thyroid biopsy done so the pathology can be done so the surgery can be scheduled. The results will determine if the surgery gets scheduled at the surgeon's convenience or if someone else gets bumped.

The good news is we have a doctor and a very good surgeon working together on this within the same hospital. The other good news is that insurance will be covering 80% of the costs over $3400 (the remainder of our deductible) and 100% once we reach $8000 out of pocket. Also Chris has paid time off, short term disability from his employer, and long-term disability coverage that we opted into. We will not be screwed over by this.

Moral of the story? When benefits enrollment comes around, run the numbers, compare the plans, and sign up for the extra shit if it's offered. Even if you're "too young" for anything catastrophic to happen to you (you aren't). Otherwise you might find yourself faced with a $100K emergency and imminent bankruptcy.

As it is, there's enough to worry about. But not having to worry about the medical bills killing us lets us focus in on more important stuff, like kicking this problem's ass.