I just got the bill for the kids dental visit in December. Wow, dental visits sure cost a lot of money. Now, this wasn’t any special visit we went for. Instead, this was for their six month checkup (you know, X-rays, fluoride treatments, etc). We are talking several hundred dollars, and I was in and out with two kids in less than an hour. Don’t get me wrong — I love my kids pediatric dentist. Her office just happens to be expensive even if you have dental insurance.

I can definitely see how having a dental plan is important if your don’t have dental insurance. To be honest, I wouldn’t know how we would afford to take my kids to the dentist twice a year plus ourselves! DentalPlans.com offers over 30 discount dental plans to help you save when you or your kids go to the dentist. On their site, you can easily find plans and dentists that are in your area. I loved that a lot of their plans actually offered orthodontia (which a lot of places don’t). If you have kids, orthodontia is very very very important. I also love that they have individual and family plans. If you don’t know exactly what you need, they also have the Dental HyGenie who will walk you through your needs.

If you are looking at ways to save at the dentist this year, make sure that you check out DentalPlans.com.

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I spent yesterday morning with a shy crabby kid and three therapists in my living room.  It was a tad nerve wracking on my part, since at first, all Will would do was throw their toys back at them.  It took about twenty minutes and at least he started to do what they wanted.  We got good and bad news.

Now, to qualify for Early Intervention, Will had to be 30% behind.  On both occupational and development skills I think he scored out at 21 months (he’s 25 months).  That isn’t enough to qualify for services.  However, like we all thought, he scored at 17 months for his speech which means he’s 32% behind.  He qualified!

Now, we have the fun part.  Since early intervention is a state funded service, I had to literally sign my life away.  Okay, maybe not my whole life but damn it was a lot of papers.  First, they have to send something to my health insurance which they will most likely deny.  This will take 2 weeks.  Then they have to verify Bill’s income to come up with what we will owe monthly (yeah, I wish it was free but it’s not).  Then they can finally set up a therapist.  I am thinking Madison might be in school before this all gets set up.  We’ll have to see.

Needless to say, I am happy.  I am hoping this will help him talk better and more and end a lot of the frustration in our house.

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Before anybody jumps to any conclusions, no I’m not pregnant (LOL. I just know that’s my first guess). I do know that my sidebars are all funky right now, but that’s part of the surprise that is on the horizon. Don’t worry — it’s a good thing. I won’t effect my my credit report or my credit rating. LOL  Well, it shouldn’t unless I forget to pay the person who’s helping do this.

I’ve seen a sneak peak so far, and it looks awesome. We are so close, and I am so excited to be able to show you all what we’ve been working on for a couple of weeks here!  (I’m pretty sure you’ve guessed at this point what the surprise is!)

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Many of you know my kids have not had a good year with their health.  I also have surgery next week, so I’m not helping our healthcare woes either.  Now, let me start by stating that I have fairly decent health insurance.  It covers most of what we need covered, $1000 deductible, $3,000 out of pocket family deductible.  Now, with everybody’s issues this year, we may actually make the family deductible.  My kids (before insurance) alone have wracked up over $20,000 in medical bills this year.  We definitely are getting our money’s worth (finally!).

So why am I worried?  Bill’s insurance is dependent on his job.  This is the worst construction (which is the field he works in) has ever been (according to an article he sent me a while pack) here in Chicago.  We keep our fingers crossed at all times here.  My biggest concern would be Madison.  Seeeeee, with her history, she’s pretty much uninsurable if we would have to pick up our own health insurance.  Her ketosis acidosis would be considered a preexisting condition that most insurances will most likely not cover or if I could actually find one, the deductible would be so high it may be pointless or we won’t be able to afford it. (And yes, I’ve actually looked into this).  Depending on what we find on my surgery next Wednesday, I may or may not fall into the same case too.

Though, is government run medicine the answer?  I don’t know.  My fear is that if the government starts offering up insurance that small companies, like the one my husband works at, will have no incentive to offer insurance.  I’ve heard about the long lines and substandard care in countries with socialized medicine.  I don’t want that either.  I can’t offer up anything better than what we have which is clearly broken.

What are your thoughts?  What is the right answer?

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