Debbie Downer

Well, folks, I hate to be Debbie Downer, but I really just feel the need to vent.

We've been dealing with the auto insurance company regarding my wreck back in October 2008 (the reason Jackson was born prematurely) for sixteen months. SIXTEEN MONTHS. We finally got a settlement offer a month or so ago, which I turned down, because over half of it was going to be paid back to the health insurance company. I'm not going to talk about specific numbers, but I wasn't asking for pain and suffering. I wasn't asking for money to get rich on. I only wanted enough money to cover the additional expenses that were a result of Jackson being premature. I didn't want the entire birth covered. I wanted the money that we had to pay for 2 weeks in the NICU. The money needed to pay the neonatologist. The six months of RSV shots. Six months of lost income because Jackson couldn't go to daycare so I had to quit my job.

So we were offered a settlement. And the auto insurance claims rep said that he was going to contact our health insurance company to see if they would lower the amount of money they would take. Which supposedly he did in January. But then I called our benefits team (health insurance) to get an update on where we were at, and they told me (and sent me an email so that I had it in writing) that the auto insurance company paid our health insurance back, six months ago!

So I call the auto insurance company back (very irritated) and the guy handling the settlement tells me that it was OUR OWN policy that paid the health insurance back, so any settlement we get would possibly then need to pay back OUR policy for paying the medical.

Then he tells me that if we do accept the settlement, since it involved a minor, it would have to be approved through the court system before they could actually pay us. So what do I do? (I mean, what do I do, besides having a mental breakdown and crying for an hour, which I've already done, because I'm SO ready to be done with all of this!). We can't afford to get an attorney.

How is it that supposedly they can't give us a settlement because they are working on settlement issues with health insurance, yet health insurance says they got paid six months ago and the claim is closed? Are they (auto) just trying to draw this out so that we hit the statute of limitations and can't sue them? Not that we can do that anyway, because we can't afford an attorney. Do they (auto) not realize that we had to drop to one income because Jackson couldn't go to daycare and I had to quit my job? Do they not realize that we had to pay all Jackson's medical and my medical out of pocket up front? Do they not realize that there are weeks when Chris gets paid, we pay our bills, and we then only have $4.00 left to last us another two weeks until he gets paid again? Do they not realize that I've had medical problems, too, and to pay for them we put it on a credit card and then get hit with 200% interest? Do they not realize this, or do they not care? My guess is that they don't care.

I am so ready to be done with all of this. I am so tired of the phone calls, and faxing junk to ten thousand offices, and worrying about money. I'm just so tired. Period.