HMOs, PPOs, POSs, oh my!

Last night Dan and I put a movie on for the kids so that we could go downstairs and review all of our medical insurance options.

Oh how I wish that were a euphemism for something more fun.

We looked at all the different coverage options for the medical and dental plans that are offered with my new job. We compared them to Dan's current benefits and tried to decide how to alter his plan. His open enrollment period ends this Friday but my coverage doesn't start until September 1st. Because my birthday falls first in the year, the kids will be covered under my plan. That meant we had to find pediatric dentists, orthodontists, family practice doctors, and make sure my OB/GYN was on whichever plan we chose.

I'm pretty sure at one point there was smoke coming out of my ears when I put my head down on the kitchen table and said, "I changed my mind. I don't want to be a grown-up. You decide. " Then I ate ice cream.

We checked the lists of all the plans to make sure that both our doctors here and the ones we might want to see up in Hendersonville are on the plans. Because, the good Lord only knows where we'll be living the next time one of the offspring gets sick. We might be here, we might be at Mom's, so we need to have options in either place. We looked at all the approved pharmacies. I filled out the paperwork for both insurance plans and direct deposit for my paychecks. I kept putting it off because I'd hoped that I would get to write down my NEW address on the forms. Alas. Not so lucky.

After reviewing all the medical coverage plans we've decided that no one in our family is allowed to be ill ever again. The next kid to get sick is so getting grounded.