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A fickle pickle

Well, I guess I am not going to give up the blog just yet. How about if we just say I will write when I feel like it, which will probably be between two and four times a month? Stop by on occasion if you are so inclined. :-)

Today's post is brought to you by my personality, which can best be described as indecisive. I would almost go so far as calling myself commitment-phobic, but I have been married for 14 years and have lived in the same house for 11 years. And I have lived in western PA my entire life. But I guess that really just proves my point about my being indecisive; I can't seem to decide anything else. It is easier to just leave things as status quo (try not to read into those examples too much).

My indecisiveness is why it took me over a year (maybe two) to buy an HD TV. It is the reason I have been looking into smart phones since last fall and still have not made the plunge (though because I get a discount with my employer, this waiting turned out to be a good thing). And it will probably be months before I finally replace the nearly dead but most certainly old and crappy laptop.

When I came home from work on Friday, I opened up a letter from the company where my husband works. This letter informed us that the employee will now be responsible for 100 percent of the vision plan; the dental plan and health insurance costs will rise considerably; and the health insurance will cover even less than it did before. Financially speaking, this means that hubby's pay will now be reduced by $100 a month (maybe more; the tables full of information were really hard to figure out).

This would make anyone angry, I assume. But what really got us is that hubby just removed me and the kid from his health insurance this month as my employer has far better coverage, though it costs more (the hubby, like a lot of men, does not go to the doc, so he decided to stay on his plan). However, because his company's vision and dental coverage cost less than what my employer offers (even though my coverage would have been a little better), the kid and I remained on his plan for those things. His benefits guy, obviously, knew this change was coming, yet did not say anything to the hubby. Had we known, we would have gotten on my employer's vision and dental and would be spending less money for better coverage. Unfortunately, our open enrollment period just ended two days before we got that letter. So we are stuck with his crap until next July. I will have to weigh the pros and cons and decide if it will make more sense just to drop the vision/dental completely for the next 13 months. If the kid and I had just had our dental checkup, I am fairly certain the decision would have been easy.

So where does that fickle part come in, you may be wondering (if you are not asleep by now)? Well, as angry as I am at his company, I also told myself, as I often do, that we could have it so much worse. Our neighborhood was not wiped out by a tornado. We were not victims of a crazed shooter. We have our health. The hubby and I both still have jobs (though, to be perfectly honest, I am not sure how much longer the hubby's company will be around). The hubby was ready on Friday to send an email to the boss or benefits guy with some choice words, and he wondered why I was not crazy-livid. But I keep reminding myself of the uncertainty and crappy-ness of the world, so in the grand scheme of things, is what happened on Friday so bad?

Is there anyone else out there who can go from mad to acceptance/looking on the brighter side more often than the weather changes in the Burgh? Or do you take a stand and stay mad (or just let things roll off you)?

(And for the record, I am not against hubby's sending an email to the benefits guy, expressing his disappointment at the guy's leaving him in the dark, just without any expletives.)

Comments

Shannon W. said…
Despair not! Soon you will get a confirmation letter of your benefits elections and have the opportunity to make corrections. Just correct the problem then. My husband works for the same employer and forgot to change something during open enrollment last year. We had no problem "correcting" it a few weeks later.

Glad to hear you plan to keep blogging.

Cassie said…
You know, it's funny. They changed my husband's insurance right when we found out I was pregnant with Audrey and we freaked out thinking our coverage would be awful. But turns out it was so much better. We pay a lot more up front, but so much less in the long run if that makes sense. So maybe it'll be better?

Hang in there.
Facie said…
Shannon: Thanks for the info. I don't pay attention to things like that, so good to know we may have an out. And thanks for being glad I am still blogging. :-)

Cassie: Sadly, the benefits are not better. What J and I are on (eye/dental) will be the same, just more expensive. My understanding is the medical coverage covers less (different company), but J and I are not on it, and the hubby never uses it (but oh, how I wish he did).
Jessica R. said…
My employer has some of the most expensive coverage I've ever heard of, especially for an organization that professes to be pro-family. We have to have an outside plan for everyone but me, and the only reason I stay on is because we can't find a single individual plan that will cover maternity. Oh yes, and all our rates are going up too. So frustrating.

Also, I can be incredibly indecisive too. No one likes to go shopping with me.

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