Looking forward to the start of the school year....

I am the kind of parent that enjoys being a parent. Meaning, I take my job seriously. I do not wish to put my babies out into the world and expect the village to help raise them. I've run into too many village idiots to be ok with that scenario. I want to partner with my kids' schools and make sure that A) my children are doing the best they can possibly do, and B) the instructors do the best they can do for my children.

Here is an example of my frustration with the educators my son has had in the past. I have not altered or changed anything except for the identifying information. My commentary is in pink. Makes me a bit teary-eyed.

-----Original Message-----
From: CrazyMama@work.com
Sent: September 25, 2008 8:49 AM
To: 6thgradeteacher@school.com
Cc: Behavioral_interventionist@privateagency.org
Subject: My Kid

Dear 6Th Grade Teacher:
My Kid did not complete any of his homework last night. He is cycling rapidly
right now & his doctor is trying to adjust his meds (read: punching holes in walls and melting down easily).
If we do not get the cycling under control soon, we may be looking at a hospitalization. I wanted to
let you know what is going on right now so you can understand why his homework
isn't complete.

When he isn't stable (typically occurs this time of year for him), homework is a huge challenge for us to get him to complete. Is there anyway we can hold off on the homework assignments until we can get him
more stabilized? It is a huge source of stress in the evenings for him & sets him off very easily.

Please let me know you thoughts. I appreciate all you guys are doing for him and I am really hopeful that he will have a good opportunity this year to get on track academically. This is the first time he has been in classes with the same grade level students.

Regards,

Crazy Mama

-----Original Message-----
From: 6thgradeteacher@school.com
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 12:53 PM
To: CrazyMama@work.com
Subject: RE: My Kid

I think that Your Kid is having tough times wit meds, but Your Kid only hmwrk when
he doesn't complete in class wrk. I think Your Kids choosing not to wrk. He is
constantly drawing dragons, and other things. When we ask him to wrk he shuts
down. We are needing grades so he has to complete something. So incourage him
please..
(Ok, really? Speak English, not Text and there is a thing called spellcheck. Not to mention the fact that asking me to "incourage" a kid to come out of his world when his moods are all over the place is RIDICULOUS and NAIVE).
-----Original Message-----
From: Crazy Mama
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 9:31 AM
To: 6th Grade Teacher
Cc: Behavioral Interventionist
Subject: RE: My Kid

6th Grade Teacher:
Thank you very much for your comments. I understand your frustration with the
incomplete class work, however, if encouragement was all it took, I'm sure
we can all agree My Kid would be extremely successful due to the large quantities
of encouragement he receives at home and at school. The lack of focus is a
result of a medical condition that he is not in control of right now. Believe
me, we don't give him any leeway at home and hold him accountable for his
actions (or lack thereof). If I even suspect he is deflecting or trying to
divert our attention from the core issues, I call him on it. With all of that
being said, I think that right now he is not in the correct state of mind to
control his focus.

I received the ARD paperwork last night. I will send it back on Monday with
our signatures. My husband and I are trying to clear our schedules for that
day. I look forward to participating and learning more about your plans and
processes for this year in class so we can reinforce them at home. Both my
husband and I are looking forward to teaming up with you and your teaching group this
year.

As I said before, this is going to be the best opportunity for him to get on
track academically and we are committed to his success. We would just ask for
your continued patience as we work through this hiccup with the medications.

Regards,
Crazy Mama

Cell Block 56

Rumor is there are major cuts coming at Very Large Corporation. So, in my warped mind, I found it hysterical to see that our cubicles were numbered on Friday morning.







Will this be some sort of random lottery drawing???

Fundraising Fail

At Very Large Corporation, we are currently doing our fundraising campaign for United Way.

So, let this be a lesson to ya'll. Eat lots of spaghetti and go get fit. Oh, and Human Resources sponsored both. LOL!

Final Thoughts on Healthcare Reform

Now, after reading through my previous posts, you may be under the impression I am for a government-sponsored, socialized, healthcare plan.

That could not be further from the truth. Keep in mind that in every one of these scenarios - while it was a pain and expensive - we got the care we needed.

I wish that I could envision Universal Healthcare for Americans. But I can't. There are so many reasons why this is not possible, but the main one is that our government is incapable of running an efficient, fair and cost effective healthcare system for our country.

Have doubts? Well, take a look at Medicaid and Medicare. The abuse of those two systems will make your head implode. Our own government has given up on them and tried to privatize them. How'd that work out for us?? If the government is so incapable of running Medicaid and Medicare, why do I want them to take over my mediocre private healthcare?


Here is what I want:



I want employers around the country to stand up to the insurance companies. Yes, the employers. If several of the nation's largest employers such as Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobil, GM, Ford, AT & T, Bank of America and UPS would join forces to REQUIRE the insurance companies to provide the services that these companies are paying for - it would be a revolution.


Here's the thing....if I go into any of these companies and had a documented issue with a product or service they provided, they would be obligated to resolve my issues. So - why do they put up with the insurance companies' substandard services which results in substandard care for their employees?

If these employers banded together, I believe the insurance companies would be shocked into action. The almighty dollar is a powerful thing and these employers demanding change would make an impact.

How do we get them to take action? The old fashioned way. If you are employed at one of these big companies, talk to your Corporate Human Resources Department. I did, and after griping over and over again about that prescription drug benefit, changes are coming for our plan in 2010. I'm just a mom, but I am a vocal mom who didn't let up and kept MAKING them listen to me. Squeaky wheel and all that....

If the government socialized our healthcare, my voice would be drowned out by the lobbyists. Just look at our prescription costs compared to other countries. Know why it is so much higher? Because lobbyists convinced our government we should "pay" for the research and development for the new drugs hitting the market.

Clean up Medicaid and Medicare and leave my privatized insurance alone. As imperfect as it is, at least I'm confident I can get care when it is needed.

Healthcare Reform Pt. 4

I'm not a medical professional, I'm just a mom. A mom who has spent a lot of time trying to navigate through inefficient systems trying to get care for my children. I'm going to give you several posts related to many of the headaches I've had to go through in order to get care for my children.



Let me preface this by saying I have health insurance. In fact, I've had the exact same health insurance for the last 12 years from one of the bigger players in the health insurance game. I work for one of the largest employers in the U.S. and have what most think are the "best" benefits around. After reading through my posts, I wonder if you would say we are getting the "best" medical care available to a working family of 4.



Scenario #4:



When I had my daughter, 7 years ago, I had a very high risk pregnancy. I had lost a baby prior to getting pregnant with my daughter, had Hyperemesis Gravidarum and ended up going into preterm labor with her. So, imagine my surprise when I received a bill in the mail after her birth for the pediatrician who saw her in the hospital. Evidently, the insurance company denied payment.



Want to know why?



Ready for this?



It was denied because the pediatrician was not selected to be my daughter's primary care physician. The pediatrician was not selected as my daughter' PCP because the insurance company wouldn't allow me to officially select/add a PCP for my unborn child. Yes, I tried very hard to get her added prior to her birth. When I went into preterm labor, there were several things my OB suggested I do while laying on the couch 23 3/4 hours a day. This was one of those things.



Here's the kicker - I gave birth a few days before Christmas and got the bill (as a result from the denial) within 2 weeks of her birth. They never even gave me a chance to get her added even though I tried to take care of this before her birth!



Now, tell me this - what new mother who is trying to nurse and care for a brand new baby after being on bedrest for 6 weeks is thinking about which day during the Christmas holidays she can call and deal with the lovely, obnoxious representatives from an insurance company?!?!

Healthcare Reform Pt. 3

I'm not a medical professional, I'm just a mom. A mom who has spent a lot of time trying to navigate through inefficient systems trying to get care for my children. I'm going to give you several posts related to many of the headaches I've had to go through in order to get care for my children.

Let me preface this by saying I have health insurance. In fact, I've had the exact same health insurance for the last 12 years from one of the bigger players in the health insurance game. I work for one of the largest employers in the U.S. and have what most think are the "best" benefits around. After reading through my posts, I wonder if you would say we are getting the "best" medical care available to a working family of 4.

Scenario 3 (which could be split into many, many posts, but I'm ready to be done with this topic):

Our prescription drug benefits changed 2 years ago. The change to "save money" requires us order our long-term prescriptions through a mail order company run by the insurance company. You can only fill a prescription 3 times at a local pharmacy before they refuse to cover it.

Here are the fun things about that little change:

• If you are on the same drug, but the dosage changes, it is still considered part of the long term prescription. So, for example, when my son went from taking 500 mgs. of Depakote ER to 1000 mgs. of Depakote ER and finally to 1500 mgs. of Depakote ER, the insurance wouldn't authorize it at the local pharmacy when we ran low. We ran low because the change in dosage came during the last month of the 3 month supply. There went $200+ I will never see again because I had to pay for it out of pocket.



• The insurance company "prefers" certain drugs over others without any regard for the individual's needs. My son took Depakote ER for several years (mostly to level out his moods, but it is designed to be a seizure medication). He cycles rapidly - multiple times throughout the day, hour, etc. - going from giddy and happy, to down and finally bottoming out with anger and rage. We tried Risperdal, but it didn't seem to work well. He was zombie-like and extremely depressed. From there we went to Abilify. Abilify has been a gift from God to us because he isn't angry all the time. Guess what? Abilify is not a "preferred" prescription so every time I get it filled through mail order ($800 for a 3 month supply) I have to make sure the doctor notes no substitutions. If he doesn't (he forgot one time) we get Risperdal. Which, oh by the way, doesn't work! GAH!



• The 3-month supply ALWAYS ends up being more expensive than if I filled the prescriptions locally and paid the 1 month co-pay three times in a row. For example, if I pay $10 to the local pharmacy for a blood pressure medication my husband takes, I would think that the max I would pay with the mail order company would be $30 plus shipping, right? Um, no. That medication costs us around $47 plus shipping for the 3 month supply.



• Timing is always an issue when filling certain medications. Because we have to pay a larger amount of money at once for a 3 month supply and I have to time the refills around doctor's appointments, I am usually getting refills about 10-14 days out from when the medication runs out. You would think that would give them plenty of time to process the prescription and get it shipped to us, right? Not always. Know what the insurance company told me one time when the medication shipped late because they were out? They offered to have me speak to a counselor to discuss the implications of my child coming off of his medication. Um, thanks, but I know the implications which was why I called you people freaking out that it didn't ship until a week after it was supposed to ship. Talk about insulting.

Healthcare Refort Pt. 2

I'm not a medical professional, I'm just a mom. A mom who has spent a lot of time trying to navigate through inefficient systems trying to get care for my children. I'm going to give you several posts related to many of the headaches I've had to go through in order to get care for my children.

Let me preface this by saying I have health insurance. In fact, I've had the exact same health insurance for the last 12 years from one of the bigger players in the health insurance game. I work for one of the largest employers in the U.S. and have what most think are the "best" benefits around. After reading through my posts, I wonder if you would say we are getting the "best" medical care available to a working family of 4.

Scenario 2:

While trying to determine the underlying cause of the seizure (and other symptoms I didn't realize were common with Autism), my son's pediatrician sent him to the local children's hospital for a sleep-deprived EEG. He did a referral for the procedure and we thought it was covered by my insurance.

I got a bill for over $500 for this procedure a few weeks later. Want to know why? Because the neurologist or the pediatrician (both offices finger pointed at the other) didn't provide the correct "diagnostic" code to the evil insurance company. Pediatrician's office said they didn't have a diagnosis so they couldn't have provided it when the test was ordered. Neurologist's office said they only read the test results. They are not responsible for the diagnostic code, it was the pediatrician's responsibility.

I fought that battle for over 6 months and paid out the wahzoo for the EEG - both in time and in cold hard cash. To add insult to injury, because this drug on for so long, I was sent to collections over this bill.

When my daughter's ear drum "busted"/"perforated" (whatever the medical terminology is) months after this issue, I took her to the same children's hospital. Do you know that I got the Stink Eye from the admissions representative because I had a "past due" balance with them? Oh - and they had our insurance information already on file from that old visit because we haven't had any change to our insurance. Hello?! Clearly something went horribly wrong with the referral/diagnostic process, but I'm the bad guy.

Hmmm....and I/my employer pay monthly premiums for this special kind of torture? Oh wait, and I pay taxes so that people who are uninsured can get all types of tests done without any cost to them?

**And yes, they do. My mother in law is on Medicaid and had this exact procedure done to determine what was causing her headaches and balance issues. FYI, an EEG can't diagnose plain ol' crazy. **