Reprieve

High on the list of things that were pushing me right up to the edge of a nervous breakdown last week were the tandem thoughts that a) I have dozens of receipts for unreimbursed medical expenses incurred this year and b) there was no possible way I could see myself getting them all submitted and postmarked by, well, yesterday (otherwise known as the last business day of 2006).

I have not yet added up the receipts, but I'm pretty sure that their combined value is a four-digit figure—and that doesn't even include the sure-to-be-rejected IVF expenses. Those babies (excuse the pun) amount to a five-digit figure all by themselves.

Back when I was working and doing a lot of business travel, I always made sure to do my expense reports the very first day back in the office after a trip. I always wanted the reimbursement check in the bank before the credit-card bill showed up with thousands of dollars in hotel and restaurant charges.

I generally did the same thing with medical expenses back then, but it was just a lot easier to fill out the forms when I worked in an office with several photocopiers on every floor. Now I have to go to a copy shop with a sheaf of papers and little credit-card receipts that have a nasty habit of fluttering out in the midst of the whole operation.

And for some reason, the reimbursement forms I have now are much more involved than the ones I had with my old insurance company. Back then, I filled out one form and made dozens of copies. Then all I had to do was sign and date each one as needed, then staple it to the receipt and stick it in the mail.

Now I have to fill out a whole questionnaire for each expense I submit. And I have to submit everything twice. First I send the questionnaire and receipt to the primary insurance company, and then I submit the remaining balance (and there is always a remaining balance) to the secondary insurance company. I realize that it is a blessing to have insurance coverage at all, let alone two different kinds, but it is, at the very least, a bureaucratic blessing.

So I was incredibly relieved to learn that I have 15 whole months from the date of service (aka the date I saw a doctor or had a test or treatment or procedure) to file a claim with either insurance company.

I was so stressed about the whole thing that I couldn't even bring myself to call the insurance companies to find out what the deadline was—I had to have Zach do it.

My very first doctor's visit (and test and procedure) for Breast Cancer—The Sequel was December 5, 2005, which means I have until March 5, 2007, to get those claims in (and, of course, even more time for the later ones). I don't plan to wait that long, but it's a huge relief to know that if I absolutely had to, I could.