Family finances can be a roller coaster at times
Have you ever had a run of such bad financial luck that you felt like the universe was out to get you — or such good luck that you felt truly blessed?
We've had an interesting run — first bad, then good — in the Kratz family lately. It's been so unusual that I can't resist sharing.
It all started a couple of months ago, when the Deseret News announced that it was changing the health insurance plan it offers employees. While premiums would go down, we were told the new plan would include substantial deductibles for the first time. The percentage our insurance company would pay, after the deductible, was also going down for many procedures.
We were told the changes would go into effect May 1. Like many of our co-workers, we quickly scheduled a whole spate of April dental and medical checkups for our family in an attempt to beat the deadline. I remember joking at the time that, once May arrived, the new plan should work great — as long as no one in our family got sick.
I guess I was tempting fate.
On May 12 — less than two weeks after the new insurance plan started — my wife was washing a glass bowl in our kitchen sink when the base broke and shattered, slicing her right hand between her thumb and forefinger.
She called to let me know what happened and drove herself to the emergency room. (Yes, I told her that was a bad choice!) She was in tears when I got to the ER, mainly because she was worried about how much it would cost us to deal with her injury.
She got excellent care in the ER and, a week later, had surgery to repair the nerve, tendon and muscle in her hand. Her recovery is going well, which I'm sure is a relief to all of you who read and enjoy her restaurant reviews in this newspaper.
The bad news is that the bills for the ER, surgery and rehab are still rolling in, and they're substantial — much more substantial than they would have been if her accident had occurred just weeks earlier.
D'oh!
It's not like we weren't trying to prepare for something like this. We were taking some of the money we were saving through lower insurance premiums and placing it in a credit union account just in case we faced a big medical expense. Of course, we weren't able to save much in the paltry two weeks before my wife's accident.
But as I said, we did have some financial good news to offset all of the bad.
You see, my wife and I just refinanced our home.
Comments
- TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd 11:32 a.m.
- Tough road ahead in Senate for bill 11:05 a.m.
- Afghan vows to keep out corruption 10:35 a.m.
- Anti-Taliban mayor killed in Pakistan 10:27 a.m.
- Dalai Lama visits town near Tibet 10:26 a.m.
- Some saw trouble ahead for Hasan 10:21 a.m.
- China pledges funds, aid to Africa 10:20 a.m.
- 40 dead in El Salvador flooding 10:19 a.m.
- Dixie campus briefs 1:10 a.m.
- Westminster campus briefs 1:09 a.m.
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
207 - Dirk does dirty work in Dallas
190 - Lobo suspended
173 - House passes health care bill
145 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
141 - Speed has never been BYU's game
136 - RSL rallies to advance
102 - Thousands protest health bill
100 - Provo company innovating engines
98 - BYU cuts Women's Research Institute
87
Jazz Fanz, before we all complain about big guys, think about our gaurds...
We believe in our team, our coaches. Unlike 1/2 of Cougar fans have...
A college education is a hard core liberal education in most cases. Trying to...
Impossible unless you're the Utes.
Like we said at Volley State, we'll see you on the football field. :-)
Looks like Bronco needs time to prepare for games (more than a week). He's...
What's surprising --and disturbing to me, on both sides of the debate, is the...
Hit these big business people right in their pocket books--thats the only way...
Loose Moose, great too see your fascination with the Utes is still intact. It...
...health care! He has health insurance through the Federal Employees'...


You can be the first to comment on this story.