Which sucks, because my family vacation is almost always during GenCon
After trying and failing on a couple of occasions over several years to hire a contractor, and doing some research on doing it myself, I’ve decided I’m going to build a front porch. My son is now probably a foot and a half taller than he was when I was planning the project initially, and both he and my daughter are actually eager to help. So I think I have enough hands to get this done this summer, and I’m excited to try.
Here’s hoping I don’t hurt anyone or the house.
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I helped my parents-in-laws build a back porch some years ago, and it’s not as hard as you might think. The trickiest parts are keeping it level, and dealing with any angles around poles or going around corners (though that is mostly math and measuring). Contractors are the worst, so you are 100% making the right choice : )
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Well, last night I was able to enjoy my first experience of the US Emergency room. Daughter has appendicitis… operation scheduled for a couple of hours.
So far, I am certainly enjoying the service - might help that I am friendly, low stress person (my wife says that I am spelling white male privilege wrong) and have felt quite welcomed.
Care has been good - a little slower than I would have liked, but that is a quibble. Lots of questions and listening which is not dissimilar to Australia.
The big unknown is how much this will cost. They say it is all in network with Cigna, subject to deductibles blah blah blah. In Aus I would get slightly less service where I went, but know that the $500 excess is the only bill I would have.
I will let you know how it goes, but any hot tips are always appreciated!
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As someone married to a medical professional, your demeanor to them is going to go a long way to getting a pleasant demeanor in return. ERs in particular are full of people who are all to quit to treat the ER staff like garbage. Admittedly, some of them are there in the worst day of their lives but a good many of them are there for quasi-emergencies and there are usually a couple who are there using the ER as their primary care. ERs are generally pretty good at triaging, but tempers certainly flare when the guy with an ankle sprain has to wait a couple of hours while they let the higher level emergencies through. Doctors and nurses take a ton of abuse each day and usually try their best to grin and bear it.
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Biggest tips I can give are these:
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As @Mirefox said, the attitude you present will be mirrored back to you. This goes for front office staff, billing coordinators, office managers, and your insurance customer service reps as well as for the clinicians involved in your care. No different than any industry, of course, but health care is a particularly confusing industry to EVERYONE involved in it – patients, clinicians, administrators, etc etc. Mistakes will be made, almost always unintentionally. A little grace goes a long way.
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As you may already be aware, “in network” generally means that the provider has agreed to receive a contracted amount from the payer for specific services. The contracted amount is typically lower than the amount the provider would charge to a self-pay or “out of network” patient. The provider is required to accept the “in network” payment for that service. Your medical coverage benefits documentation from your health insurer will explain what your financial responsibility is for “in network” as well as “out of network” services. Which leads me to…
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Always read your medical coverage benefits material very closely. Don’t assume that the provider’s business office staff will know what your policy covers or not. There are too many variations in benefits design for them to be experts on your own coverage limitations.
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Also read your bills and EOBs (Explanation of Benefits) very closely. Mistakes happen. Be prepared for a lot of finger pointing from both the provider and your health insurer. Again, your provider can’t be an expert on your coverage, and the health insurer is governed by reams of federal, state, and industry regulations on how to operate that providers and patients don’t know about either.
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Pay particular attention when inpatient services are being billed and reimbursed. (Like appendicitis.) You’ll receive statements from multiple providers associated with the care (some of whom you will never have met, like pathology and radiology providers) in addition to bills from the facility. Unless you’re a clinician, you will see a lot of charges you won’t recognize. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
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Lastly, remember that billing mistakes often happen; medical billing and reporting is complicated in most countries, regardless of the reimbursement mechanisms. This complexity is ratcheted up past 11 in the US. Most of the mistakes you encounter will be honest ones that can be easily corrected with a little communication back to the provider and payer. Being friendly and low-stress will be a big help!
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Feeling a bit melancholic today…
It’s a weird world, I was already in a gloomy mood, and I stumbled across an old BGG thread from 2012 with a comment of a person here, and I noticed I haven’t seen him commenting for a while, maybe years, who knows… hoping he has just found himself a different hobby (unlikely honestly) not something else. Remembered he once wrote about health issues, but that was quite a while ago…
Knowing people only through your their texts is weird….
P.s I searched his profile and found out he is active… what a blessing (he wasn’t writing anything for a few years though to my defense, what a coincidence )… glad you are fine mate
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That’s the hard thing about this online life we lead.
I actually wrote about that once. It’s hard to know what to do when you only know somebody online and there’s no way to know what’s happened to them if you disappear.
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Never ever allow my wife to sell my stuff for what she thinks it’s worth.
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I am advanced enough in years at this point that I’ve been considering writing up a guide to what everything is and what my wife and kids should do with it after I’m gone. I also just need to start selling some of it off myself.
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Never sell, only buy. This is the way.
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Well, I have an end date to my us adventure - heading back to Aus in mid December.
Therefore the mission to see as much of the US continues! Today is day 1 of our Yellowstone adventure, hoping to see bears and bison (from a distance of course), as well as some fancy geothermal things!
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I love it there. Enjoy.
I also cannot recommend enough the GuideAlong app if you plan on driving around the park. It will give you a ton of history, stories, and science. Tours range from $15-20 but have been well worth the cost for my family.
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In the US, a happy Father’s Day to any of you who are dads. I know you are all totally crushing it : )
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My children are kind of pissed about being crushed, to be honest.
I’m sorry; I felt obligated to make the joke on behalf of dad jokes everywhere.
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Happy news in my life: my front step, which is concrete faced with bricks that have been falling off for years, turns out not to be solid concrete inside. Instead, it’s a 6-inch slab of concrete over dirt/rock fill. The plan that I had was to start out demolition with a sledgehammer, rather than renting a jackhammer from the off, just to see if I could do it. Consequently, my stupid attempt to pretend to be manly, rather than leaving a largely-untouched block of concrete as a monument to my hubris, has instead been strikingly successful; we’re about half done after less than two hours of work.
So the project to build a porch with my kids (and perhaps thereby reinforce some of the mutual respect which tends to falter in late adolescence, while building their self-efficacy toward stuff like applying for colleges and getting jobs) has started off in a very effective and genuinely fun way.
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I think I have asked in the past if anyone else was going to Pax Unplugged and I was the only one, but just in case - I will be there Friday and Saturday this year.
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Hope everyone in the US had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. I cooked, as I do every year, and we had 15 at the house, which is about average most years. Sorry none of you could make it : ) But thankful for all of you being here.
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You as well! Enjoyed the day with family visiting from Minnesota.
This will be our last US thanksgiving as my time in the US is coming to an end.
Will shared a longer post at some stage…. But headed back to Australia in 2 weeks. It has been fun 
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