Thread Drift

[Catrin]

My body temp has also been low, generally at least 97, sometimes below. While I've no reproductive system at all, I've never had what I've heard described as a hot flash. I get a little warm from time to time, but it is minor and passes quickly. More often I can't get warm! I do get a good thyroid workup at least once a year as it was removed 30 years ago. Generally speaking I'm colder than before my surgical menopause. I DO prefer to be outside, but I'm becoming less and less fond of winter...

[shootingstar]

I did find that Nordstrom carries Canada Goose coats. They are quite pricey.

Either we have some local rich people walking around (I guess that's the equivalent to a fur coat now) or people just spend money like drinking water...

Last night, I was in WAlmart's killing time with a friend while she shopped. Oe woman asked another customer how the Canada goose coat felt. Customer said that she was actually sweating while walking around in the store..

Outside yesterday was -12 degrees C.

I'm losing my tolerance for hot, humid temperatures/summers. If you suggest a beach vacation vs. a mountain snow vacation, then I would take the mountain snow vacation lst. I actually seemed to have gained slightly greater tolerance to cold winters down to -15 degrees C. Before I moved to Alberta, I would have considered such temp. super cold for me.

[ny biker]

Either we have some local rich people walking around (I guess that's the equivalent to a fur coat now) or people just spend money like drinking water...

Last night, I was in WAlmart's killing time with a friend while she shopped. Oe woman asked another customer how the Canada goose coat felt. Customer said that she was actually sweating while walking around in the store..

Outside yesterday was -12 degrees C.

I'm losing my tolerance for hot, humid temperatures/summers. If you suggest a beach vacation vs. a mountain snow vacation, then I would take the mountain snow vacation lst. I actually seemed to have gained slightly greater tolerance to cold winters down to -15 degrees C. Before I moved to Alberta, I would have considered such temp. super cold for me.

Oh I am the opposite -- I hate the cold more as I get older. If I lived in a cold climate I would not care how much I had to spend for a good coat. Even now I am raising my budget for the coat purchase because it seems that's what I have to do to be warm.

REI has a "dividend match" on certain brands through tomorrow, including North Face and some other brands of coats. Between a coat, Christmas shopping and the $600 I spent on my car a few weeks ago, this month's credit card bill will be significant.

I have had my thyroid checked several times, it's always normal. I take after my father and his mother in this regard.

[emily_in_nc]

Glad your thyroid's okay, NY. I also tend to have lower than normal body temp, or at least I used to, prior to menopause. Not sure now as I have so rarely had it taken.

I definitely prefer warm weather to cold, but I am becoming less tolerant of both HOT and COLD weather as I get older. There are a lot of snowbirds, expats, and tourists down here in Mexico who claim to love the hot, humid weather, but I am definitely tired of it. I do like being warm and wearing shorts and tank tops, but I am tired of being sweaty and sticky. My DH tolerates it much better than I do and sweats less. I am hoping as I get farther from menopause (I'm only a couple of years post-menopausal) that I'll tolerate heat better. We'll see!

[Crankin]

Ok, when it rains, it pours. My other son called yesterday, and his wife is pregnant, too! Very, very early, but probably due about 6 weeks after the first grandchild.
Guess I'll be taking a trip to LA in September.

[ny biker]

Double congrats!!

[Catrin]

Enjoy!

[shootingstar]

Wow, Crankin. More visits..

[ny biker]

I've been putting this off for a long time but can't procrastinate any longer... I have to log into the medical insurance and flexible spending account websites to see where I stand for this year and what I have to spend to use up the FSA.

My reason for delaying it is that I know I will end up angry at the FSA people. I am so careful using the debit card they give us, I only use it for things that are clearly and without a doubt eligible under the law. Like copays at doctors offices, prescriptions at pharmacies and contact lenses. Still they always end up accusing me of fraud and demanding proof that I haven't done anything wrong. I hate them. Last year they screwed up, charged a copay from 2014 to my 2015 account and refused to fix it, saying there was nothing they could do and therefore not letting me have $20 from 2014 that I legitimately should have gotten back.

No, I did not sign up for an FSA for 2016. It's just not worth the aggravation.

I will probably end up irritated by something with the insurance company, too. Ultimately they all punish you for getting sick. And they punish you if you go for checkups to try to avoid getting sick.

Deep breaths...

===

ETA - So yeah, my health insurance only covers one preventive care visit per year. The colonoscopy doctor billed my visit to her under that category, therefore 0% of all other preventive care checkups are covered -- I have to pay completely out of pocket for the visit to the gynecologist. If I had gone for a routine physical, that would have been 100% out of pocket, too.

My employer apparently prefers that we all be diagnosed with late stage cancer or collapse from a stroke or heart attack.

And no, we are not given information about this in advance, beyond a vague sentence in small print in a hard-to-read pdf. We find out after we owe the money to the doctor.

I haven't even gotten to the FSA people yet.

====

OMG the FSA people refused to reimburse me for 2014 charges for NO REASON. "It was a mistake, we will process the claim now." Thieves. Can't wait for them to try to pull the same crap with the 2105 receipts that I'm about to submit.

Oy. Logging out of these websites and moving on to something more pleasant. First I will go on facebook to look at the photo of my friend's cat as he sits on her laptop and gives her the PLAY WITH ME look.

[emily_in_nc]

ETA - So yeah, my health insurance only covers one preventive care visit per year. The colonoscopy doctor billed my visit to her under that category, therefore 0% of all other preventive care checkups are covered -- I have to pay completely out of pocket for the visit to the gynecologist. If I had gone for a routine physical, that would have been 100% out of pocket, too.

What a pain, NY! That does not seem right at all. I am glad you brought it up, though. Just in case mine does the same thing, I'll try to make sure I get the colonoscopy in between years for my preventive physical -- I tend to only do that every other year. I wonder if this is a common practice?

I hope you are pleasantly surprised on the FSA reimbursement for 2015 -- maybe you'll catch a break this time? When I was working and had one, I don't seem to recall having many problems with getting reimbursed. If I did, I've apparently blocked it out of my memory. It was an annoying task, though; I do remember having to fax in forms and such all the time and carefully plan medical expenses throughout the year to use my funds. I remember having to buy a ton of disposable contacts one year b/c I was going to end up with a bunch of money left over in my account....

[Crankin]

Hmm, I can have a colonoscopy and a physical in the same year. Of course, I had my colonoscopy before the ACA, but DH had his after, and was fine. And he goes for 2 preventative exams, yearly, one with the internist and one with the cardiologist. We pay the co-pay for the cardiologst.
The FSA, however is annoying, but it doesn't anger me. We get questioned for receipts on a regular basis for things that are obvious, like PT co-pays, but yet, it paid for 2 years of acupuncture with no questions. We've had several companies, though, and some are definitely better than others. I have used it for very expensive glasses and then pay for my contacts out of pocket. This year, I used it for the contacts, though. What I don't do is use it for the non-prescription things that are supposed to be covered, but are always rejected.

[Pax]

Never bothered with FSA, my employer didn't need to know what I was doing health-wise. Then again, I've never made enough money to file more than a 1040EZ and my out of pocket medical expenses are pretty low, so it's not a big issue.

[rebeccaC]

This discussion makes me really thankful Ellie chose and pays for Kaiser Permanente coverage (a non-profit) for all employees and families. I have a $20 copay for both prescriptions and each office visit as needed even specialists. $0 for preventive services. I do what’s needed to stay healthy and fit so I don’t use it much but a couple of other employees and their families do need it and are very thankful for having it. Ellie knows it also makes for less stressed and more productive employees and feels it's a good investment in her employees.

Since California set up its own ACA exchange, prices for that are also lower here than the states that for political reasons didn’t.

i've never understood the making an insurance profit off someone being ill.....universal health care ftw

[ny biker]

i've never understood the making an insurance profit off someone being ill.....universal health care ftw

Yes! Totally agree.

Our insurance plan is allowed to violate some ACA provisions, apparently. Old coverage limitations are grandfathered. Next year's coverage will be worse, with more copays and deductibles. And it's very hard to find out in advance if something will be covered.

[Catrin]

I had an FSA before moving to our high-deductible plan with HSA account. For the FSA they were required to have proof for every expenditure by the IRS regardless of how obvious an allowed expense. I certainly prefer the HSA account over the FSA, though moving to the CDHP plan itself certainly took some adjusting that first year. All preventative services are covered however, not just one. I've never heard of that NY Biker, so sorry to hear they've been able to get away with that. In the end, for us, they made our CDHP more attractive financially to us than the traditional HMO.