Playing the run around game!

I cut my finger while getting ready for Thanksgiving on Nov 25, 2014  We went to our closest ER and got me all stitched up.  DH paid the co-payment while I was being treated and went home on our merry way.

We soon got our Explanation of Benefits(EOB) from our insurance and all was good... or so I thought.  Honestly I didn't read it and notice that I "still owed."

Even so the hospital didn't bother trying to get the left over $90 until Sep 23, 2015!!!  hummm couldn't have been hurting that much.  :-/

So I see on the bill from the hospital that they have broken up the charges for my visit so that rather than paying just my normal co-pay, I was charged 3 times and owe a co-pay for each charge...thus the extra $90.  I call up the hospital to ask why they have charged me 3 times and no good reason...just that I owe the money.  I got rather testy with the guy, said "I AM NOT PAYING THIS!" and hung up on the jerk.

I then called up my insurance.  Where they immediately saw that yes the hospital had billed me incorrectly and said that they would take care of it.  I received a new EOB in the mail shortly afterward showing that my co-pay had already been satisfied.  And thought nothing more of it...

until...
Oct 27th when I got a bill for the entire amount minus $450.  (about $2K) ???  The bill says that "If you provided insurance information, it was billed and all efforts to collect from them have been exhausted."

can you say WHAT???

So I call up the insurance on Nov 4th and the gal there says they paid on Oct 15th.  She calls up the hospital billing who says they'll investigate...should hear in 30 days.

on Nov 26th the hospital sends another bill for the $2K.  I've been busy, so today with a bit of lag time I call up the hospital.  They say that my bill is still outstanding and that no, they have proof of my insurance but that the insurance reversed the payment.  Say what?  They guy who just happens to be the exact same guy that the insurance gal spoke with on Nov 4th says that insurance gal never sent him an EOB.  But if I fax him one he'll look into it. 

I don't have a fax, so I get the snail mail addy.
In the mean time I call up the insurance and they say that they'll send the EOB by the end of today.  (humm... not so trusting now) so I ask "just for grins...can I get that fax number?"  he gives it to me and I google how to fax from my computer.

I scan all the documents and fax it to them.  So I've either opened up a can of whoop butt or confused the world.  sigh

All I want for Christmas is a paid hospital bill!

oh that wasn't all!

The theater conference saga continues!

We arrived at the conference earlier than the school we were going with.  So we hung out, they had provided music in the lobby for the kids to dance to, but we mostly just people watched and kept an eye out for our group.

At about 10 til their arrival time, I checked with registration to see if they had showed up yet... they had NOT.

At 20 min after they were supposed to arrive, I checked again.  Seeing as the first session was due to start in 10 min the registration gal allowed me to go through the check in bag to get our badges so we could go ahead to our first session.  She just asked that we let the school person know so they wouldn't be freaked out as to why our badges weren't there.

After 3 checks we discovered that our badges were not there.  So the registration gal looked and saw that we were registered LATE (which explains why we couldn't get our IEs).  So they printed out our badges and sent us on our way.  We never did check in with the highschool...although we were at one point sitting near them and said hi to several of the kids we knew.

The schedule for the conference indicated that the vendor hall would be set up before the conference and be open during the entire thing.  um... not so much!  After our first session when the others were checking into their hotels we went to check out the vendor hall and there wasn't anyone to talk to...EXCEPT for the one college that has been bugging us like crazy since we first signed up to go...it is in another state...in literally the middle of nowhere.  So while they may have a decent program, they don't have an audience for any of their shows.  :-/

I'll spare you the details on how I thought a lot of the content presented at the group events was totally inappropriate for high school kids and totally juvenile in the gratuitous swearing.  Let's just say that I am SO very glad that my child isn't in the public school system as the director was PROUD to be able to present this garbage to our kids.  sigh!  I got an earful from some totally liberal brainwashed mother on Facebook that if I didn't like that content then Theater isn't what I should be involved with.  Sorry but I choose to not pimp out my child for entertainment value!  And so far my child has indicated that she won't audition for shows that compromise her morals.  I pray she stays strong in that.

Good things about the conference are that she and her friend got to do a lot of very interesting classes and DD did her audition...where she got 5 "callbacks."  We thought going in that the callbacks would be offers to attend the schools and possible scholarships.  Um nope!  they weren't even close.  Basically, the callbacks were offers to apply and audition for that school's program.  :(  And the kicker...the school DD wants wasn't part of the process even though they were at the conference.  They couldn't spare the manpower to go to the audition due to an event at the school...projects for finals that the students had to do. 

However, DD & I were able to talk to school reps and DD got to take a class from and chat with a professor...cementing her desire to go to that school.  so we're happy about that.

Now onto getting her into a program to knock out her core required classes for free through the early colleges program.

Just what I don't need!

more stress!

DD is in the middle of a show.  A Christmas Carol.  I'm in it also.  :D  and I've been working on making our costumes and some extra bits for the rest of the cast...the majority of the costumes are being made by my friend and they'll all become part of her costume rental when we are done.

our tech week schedule has changed so I may have to cancel our trip to the Operation Christmas Child distribution center to pack boxes... most of the folks who were going have to be at rehearsal.  I have to break the news about this to DD today...I'm sure she's going to be heart broken.

and today we are heading off to a theater conference.  but let me share that saga

My daughter and her friend are both students of  a voice teacher here AND the president of highschool's Parent Patron's club.  (I believe you heard from him when we first learned that our girls did not have IE spots)  He likes to have all of his students compete in different events as their scores reflect on him.  So he highly encouraged us to attend theater conference this year and made arrangements for us to go through highschool's Theater troop... even though when I inquired last year I was told that homeschoolers could go solo to the event.

We first asked highschool for permission to join them and promised that highschool would have no responsibility for our kids.  All they had to do was get us in the door.  They agreed, took our money and registered us for just theater conference...while not registering us for the IEs that we requested (the ENTIRE point of us going pretty much.)  Apparently the person in charge messed up several other students IEs as well.  There was no communication between highschool and us after they got our money.  Apparently the person in charge of doing the registration was under the impression that we would register for our IEs ourselves...but no one told us that was part of the process.  and apparently this was NOT part of the process for everyone as several of highschool's theater troop did get registered for their IEs through this person.

After we found out that our girls were registered but not for IEs we also learned that I, as their chaperon needed to be registered also, but no one knew how to do that.  That's where I got in touch with you while voice teacher badgered anyone who would listen.  He learned just a few minutes ago that I am registered to attend. 

okay, so we can go to the conference and I can go also.  DD can do her audition for college because that was separate and I did it.  whew.  Now the scheduling and negotiating all the getting there, food and stuff.

DD is a picky eater.  Friend is a vegetarian.  We have to figure out how to feed both girls.  fun as Friend is used to just eating at home.

Showers for all of us to leave the house by 7am for two days.  yay

I'm gonna hide now