April Fools'? I think not

I am bummed. This year our present employer has decided to do away with our HMO. *sigh* This means we now get to have crappy health insurance; as in the kind where you pay a (ridiculous) deductible THEN pay more later on! What a ripoff!

Fortunately it doesn't take effect til June 1 so I have time to get whatever done... Which is why I scheduled my annual OBGYN checkup (with a different doc of course; my previous doc has actually made me leery of docs now!) for this coming week- this way if I need any follow-up checks (god-forbid) they will be covered in full. Wish me luck!

I guess that brings me to another silver lining of being laid off: I will only get two months' severance pay (hey it's better than nothing!). Severance including, of course, may paycheck, and any insurance I elect (health, vision, etc). So that means beyond June 30, I will only have coverage til the end of August. Why is that a good thing? This company wants you to do an online health assessment PLUS a physical exam, by September 1. Granted, the physical is on their dime, but here's the catch: if your health doesn't meet up to the doc's (and insurance company's) opinion- say, you're "overweight" or have "high" BP (with BP link, scroll to the top of the page and click, "High Blood Pressure is a sympton not a disease..." link), they will want you to start a "wellness" program.

Why am I leery of this? Because doctors like to jump to drugs in my experience, as my aforementioned doctor was very reluctant to go the non-drug route. Shown by her attitude in accusing me of "ignoring the problem" and insulting me in many other fashions *AFTER* I had suggested natural treatments. Basically, she wouldn't agree to it until after she had finished insulting me for not taking her potions, which have been proven to potentially cause more problems than to help. And sure enough, my "problem" had basically resolved itself. Ah, the difference a day makes. If I really had this "problem," it would have once again reared its ugly head that day too. But it didn't. I guess that makes her right... you can't ignore the problem... that doesn't exist!

Now for a little something about this aforementioned doctor visit which I have not mentioned much: In the lobby before our visit, in walks a well-dressed, young-looking man. He carried a bag with him that appeared to be full of samples. Keep in mind that this bag has a name of a widely-used drug on it. The man went inside the office. Came back out a few minutes later. To be fair he still had the full-looking bag with him, but it still raised my eyebrows and made me scratch my head later that day, especially after the doctor disclosed that the BP med she was pushing on me was a beta-blocker. The name that was on the drug bag? It is a widely-used beta-blocker that is dangerous during pregnancy. I really hope that this guy just went to the wrong office, as I am aware that is a possibility. However, shouldn't the front-desk receptionist have caught that by asking which doc he was there for? I also do not know for sure which med the doc was going to give me, if this was actually the one or not. But, still...