big fiery hoops.

i 100% believe that if you want to steadily but stealthily drive someone insane, without them realizing that you're doing it, you should send them a series of claims-related insurance forms to fill out.

we've descended into one of the nine rings of hell, that ring known as "questioning your claim as a preexisting condition."

woot.

yes, friends, pregnancy can be considered a preexisting condition, like a knee injury or a chronic disease. can anyone really tell me we haven't medicalized the holy heck out of babies now? (i don't think you can, and if you do, i'm going to sit you down and force you to watch "the business of being born" until you agree with me.)

anyways, because we are perpetual students, we get our insurance through the school. let me tell you, it's not cheap. it's pricey but it's worth it, because it's got great coverage.  however, i was covered under one policy (my own, back when i was Perpetual PhD Student) when we conceived Baby Girl and then covered under another policy (my husband's, who became Music Student Extraordinaire right about the time that I graduated) when we started getting seen by a doctor.  But because my doctor doesn't bill until the end of the pregnancy (best idea ever, she says sarcastically), the claims are only now beginning to be processed.

the first one was for the ultrasound, and i can only imagine what happened when that claim came through.  a big fat red ALERT ALERT ALERT! MATERNITY CLAIM! and many many printers whirring into action to deluge us in a rain of paper. i've had to get musicboy to confirm his full-time status, my doctor to confirm my last menstrual period date (duh, trying to establish conception before the plan was in effect--saw that one coming a mile away), claim that we are not covered by any other policies. 

these hoops were completed yesterday. i scanned them, emailed them, and was pleased to have them be done.

then i got the mail today. more.  this time, about preexisting conditions and who i was covered by before and a release for medical records for the six months prior to the effective date of the policy.

it's quite obvious that they're gearing up to deny the claims as preexisting condition, which is cute since i have emails from the benefit counselor at collegetown u and the benefits booklet itself, which says that maternity is the exception and that you'll be covered for that pregnancy and birth (only! nothing else!) if you conceive while you're covered by their policy.

(and also, i have another policy that covers everything else, so it's really just a matter of them telling me what to do for what and getting it all sussed.)

HAHA! don't tell me i don't plan ahead. man, my ducks are in a row and quacking.

it's just the hoops, man. the hoops are so annoying. 

but i just keep telling myself that i have to keep scanning and emailing, keep signing and smiling, keep calling customer service to confirm what has been received and what is happening and what i need to do to get my doctor paid and the road paved for all future claims to be accepted.  i get it. i understand what they're doing. i don't even really begrudge them the process.

but i hate it. i really, really hate it.

because, here's the thing. i work REALLY REALLY hard to afford the insurance. like this is a huge chunk of change that we have to pay every semester, and it's not pretty, and it usually means i have to work more than i normally would to either pay off that credit card bill or to replenish our savings when i just decide that it's not happening fast enough and i want to get the balance gone. either way, it's not pretty. 

so it annoys me when there's any question that somehow we are cheating the system. nobody's cheating here.  we're totally aboveboard and honest.  but it frosts my cookies when it all doesn't go the way i think it should.

(that's true in life, too, by the way.)

in the meantime, i'm just trying to stay calm and deliberate, be wise and keep detailed notes, and do what they ask me to do.  i just think it's outstanding planning on their part to do this when i'm eight months pregnant, because the whole calm, deliberate, rational thing is, at times, fleeting at best.

go bureaucracy.