Today I’m going to rant about insurance in general and health insurance in particular. As many are aware, I have a few things going on right now that seem to be kicking me in the rear-end. Receiving a letter from our health insurance company yesterday, regarding an audit, did not improve things at all.

You may have ascertained that I am not a fan of health insurance companies. The reason is that they have many, many loopholes to avoid paying on a claim, yet take the money of hardworking Americans in order to…pay millions to the head honchos, of course!

I can go to a reputable clinic staffed by an excellent physician, and pay $40 for a walk-in appointment; I can now, under this health plan, go to another physician, after waiting weeks or months for an appointment, and pay only $15. Same results, but I don’t have to actually be dying in order to see the first one very quickly. Oh, and for the privilege of paying that $15, I also pay about $500 per month. Let’s see, that comes to, for my family of five, assuming we each go to a doctor twice a year – $6150. Or $400. Gosh, can we say “rip-off”??

What about “big” things? I’d wager that the average person has NO “big things” on an annual basis; in fact, last year my husband had a procedure that, without insurance, would have cost us about $3000. He won’t be having that this year, of course, so you see where I’m coming from, right?

Sure, there’s the possibility, but really – that’s what the health insurance industry counts on. Not to mention we hear, all the time, about health care horror stories, but rarely about the relationship between fees charged and actual cost.

My latest gripe is this letter we received yesterday: the company wants “proof” that all dependents are eligible to be insured. Um, let’s see, you’ve been insuring us for three years or more, and NOW you want “proof”?

So they want a copy of our marriage certificate; fine, that was twelve years ago and I don’t know anyone who carries a copy of that around with them – but I do, thankfully. Of course, we could have divorced, they didn’t ask about that. Besides, they also asked for a copy of our tax return. Again, same point.

And they want the kids’ birth certificates. Fortunately, I found all of them too – but in this state it can take two months to receive a copy, so what happens to those who DON’T have them? Especially since the deadline is in 30 days?

Basically, I had to take an hour out of my day to find and copy and prepare to mail all this ridiculous documentation. Some of which, like my daughter’s proof of college attendance, they already had; of course, it took three faxes to take care of that back in January.

But here’s the real kicker: they said to black out our SSNs, etc., even thought they ALREADY HAVE THIS information. Huh?

Okay, it’s an audit – how about WE request an audit on the cost of healthcare? On the cost of their insurance? How about someone tell us just how much is the company’s “share” of this cost? How about we question why the head honcho of THIS company, who makes several million annually, has HIS insurance premiums fully paid by that company?

No wonder the country’s falling apart.