I’ve been on hold with Soonercare for over an hour. I got a letter from them that says I need to upload a document or Belinda will lose coverage. I already uploaded the document and it says on the portal that it was rejected. So now I have to be on hold forever to find out what is wrong and how to fix it. I’m thankful that I can get help but being on hold like this for hours is stressful. They do say they can call me back but I miss those calls every single time and my phone doesn’t ring when they call for some reason. So I’m just listening to their cheery music and waiting.
I have other calls to make too – another one that will require much waiting about our utilities. So I guess that will be my afternoon.
In other news, Belinda has been having a hard time in the school cafeteria. Meal plans are required at the school and she’s found it nearly impossible to get what she’s paying for. She said all the meals she can eat are very unhealthy (pizza and burgers) and the meals that are healthy (salads) stick in her throat. I sadly would have been very pleased with the unhealthy meals (and I was when I was in college) but she is a much more disciplined person than I am. She also is experiencing a lot of anxiety because she can’t get her food finished in time for the next class and she’s always self-conscious about having to regurgitate, even if she tries to be discreet at the trash can. So her therapist and her doctors in DC both submitted letters to the university to request that she be released from the required meal plan. I hope they agree, because it’s crazy to spend so much money on food that she cannot eat. She generally makes food in her room with her microwave and other little approved appliances. If they reimburse the money that she will not be using, she will be able to use that to finish paying for her books, and then she can keep her work study earnings for other expenses.
She also doesn’t love her medical bed at college. It bends like a hospital bed so she can be elevated, but she says it’s difficult to sleep like that. At home we just have a giant wedge that goes under her mattress, and she likes that much better. We might have to find another wedge that is sized for this bed, I guess. Bummer.
She’s been continuing her therapy sessions online, and I’m very glad about that. I know this time is more stressful than she realized it was going to be, and having that connection with her provider back home is invaluable.
What else…she just called me to let me know she got a 96 and then 10 bonus points on her first speech, and she was very happy but also told me she presented it well but the speech wasn’t really good enough to earn that grade. She’s always so tough on herself.
The recording on the phone just announced I have 75 minutes to wait. Every time they come on the line the number is going up. It was less than an hour when I first started waiting.
Oh! I got the approval email from Mercy Medical Angels this morning, and they will be assisting us with Belinda and my plane tickets again for her procedure in December. So that’s good, one less thing. I think Children’s National said they would start working with Soonercare 60 days before the procedure to try to get it approved. that will be in October. I sure hope it all works out – or that Ben has a job and we can use that insurance.
I am looking into helping Belinda apply for legal disabled status. She’s in school full-time and hopes to work full-time when she is out of school, but I am hoping she will qualify so she will be able to continue with Soonercare even after Ben gets a job. I would like to have some kind of assurance that she will continue to have medical insurance even when she comes off of Ben’s insurance at 26, and I have read that it’s better to get it done while they are still younger if possible. I haven’t found any negative repurcussions, but I’m still researching it.
We will go to Alva on Sept. 27 for Family Day. Sarah can’t go because she has a band competition, but Karlene is going to go to that with her. I’m thankful for my family.