Healthcare and My Husband

I want to be honest with my readers. The last year has been so tough! If you recall, my husband was hospitalized last year. Right before the holidays. We spent Christmas in the hospital. Praying for his health. It's all that mattered!

We never knew, just how much our lives would change. I'm not just talking the day to day. My husband is still on the road to recovery. He still struggles with his energy. Takes 2 naps a day. Some days, his balance is really off. I can see my husband getting frustrated with himself. I try to be extra supportive every day. But there are days, when he has little patients with himself.

But with my husband slowing down, all of us need to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, most days, it feels like it's just my daughter and I. My daughter doesn't even live close by. But she manages much of our paperwork for us, and helps with the bills and taxes. Yes, owning a business is crazy! I'm so glad that we have her to depend on. And she has made it a point, to spend a few weeks at a time, with us.

We are also blessed to have great employees. Who support us. And help wherever they can. But it's still rough. My husband and I, we had each taken care of one part of the business. And when he got sick, there was a lot to learn. Almost immediately. Suddenly, I was learning about the 30 different taxes we pay. About all the bills that I never knew how to pay. Thank God for our daughter. Who knows about and takes care of much of this.

But on top of all of this, we've never had health insurance. My husband is nearly 80 years old. So he had the basic medicare coverage. It just happened, that my daughter was able to get a new plan going. While my husband was still in the hospital. Right before the deadline.

It helped. But honestly, even with the new insurance, it's really expensive. The first prescription cost, we had to cover, it was $950. We never got reimbursed for any of it! We still paid nearly $10,000, for my husband's almost week stay in the hospital.

We were lucky. The ambulance was paid for. About 80% of the hospital bill was covered. We were able to pay off the doctors and hospital bill late in the summer. The other day, we got a bill in the mail. For $4,000! I about died! It's for an oxygen machine, that my husband has never used! The company dropped it off. Never serviced it. Nothing. But my daughter got on the phone, and medicare paid for it. We're still waiting for service. Good thing it's not life threatening.

My husband has always gone to the doctor, twice a year. We paid $120 for 2 medications that he'd been taking for over 30 years. But we weren't' prepared for $400 a month. On prescriptions and supplies. And that's our co-pay. It makes me wonder how other people do it. My husband is now going to the doctor once a month as well.

In so many ways, we've had to figure things out for ourselves. Our daughter has been such a great help! She knows so much about the health care system. Just the other day, she was on the phone for over 3 hours! Why? To get us some answers. One prescription that we get, went from $140, to $14. Wow!

That's what most of that last year has been. Nursing my husband back to health, taking care of a business, and learning about health care. It's a hard task. Especially with a small business. That my husband and I own and run. Pretty much on our own. Then maneuvering around the health care system. Trying to bring family together. Dealing with my own parents, and their failing health.

I'm hoping to get back to blogging. Reading blogs. Doing more crafts. Getting back to me. Just a little bit. I miss doing things that I enjoy. Things that just make me happy. Even if it's sewing for a half an hour. I need some down time. My husband and I need some down time. Time to get back to us.