spring

Good morning.
We've had some very nice weather, and spring has arrived here in Vegas....

These pics were taken in the shopping center across the highway from our home. I believe they are called Flowering Pear. The little spreading shrubs we have along our sidewalk Weeping Rosemary have had little blue flowers all winter. Attracts bees and hummingbirds which appear to have stayed all winter. Also, our frost free date was the 16th. I like short mild winters.  :-)
Wed. we joined a few neighbors for lunch at the Rampart Casino Buffet. Had a coupon from our book for buy one get one, so it only cost us $5 apiece. It was a very nice buffet with good selections. The main problem with buffets is I tend to eat to much.  :-)
Yesterday Craig had an appointment with an Orthopedic surgeon to see what was recommended for his finger that has slowly but steadily been bending in. The fancy name for this condition is Dupuytren’s contracture. His is quite severe with his finger now bent 50%. So surgery is recommended. It will be outpatient, and he'll need physical therapy after that. You can read more about the condition here...
I also got a call from the body shop and the Jeep should be ready to pick up this afternoon.
I've also been dealing with insurance. OMG! What a hassle!
First......
I got a statement from my insurance company declining coverage for my new family doctor. They say he's out of network. So I called the doctors office to find, no, they don't accept my insurance. I complained that I asked that when I made my appointment and when I gave them my insurance card, why didn't they say something. Long story short, I'm waiting for the manager to call me back. The office visit was $261 and I paid a $50 office co-pay. So I may be stuck with $211.
Then.....
I keep getting bills from Blue Cross of Michigan for insurance that I changed when we moved out here. I went online to Healthcare.gov and got new insurance for Nov and Dec. But Blue Cross of Michigan is also billing me for Nov and Dec. So I called them and since I bought it through the market place we had to do a conference call to them. There I found out that I was suppose to call and cancel my Michigan coverage when I got Nevada coverage. I said why would the market place allow me to have 2 insurance policies and get 2 tax credits? I just assumed when I got Nevada insurance, they would automatically cancel my Michigan coverage. Apparently I was wrong. So that has been escalated to a case worker and I'm waiting for their response.  That might end up biting me for another $505.
Some apparently good news.....
I got a statement from my insurance company for my overnight stay in the hospital The hospital submitted a bill of $40,700.00. Can you believe it? no surgery, just a bed for one night with a bunch of tests. And the food wasn't that good! But, thanks to the hospital being in network, they accepted a bill of just $3,120.00. So I'll end up paying that since I have a $5000.00 deductible, but that's better than I thought. Now that's just the hospital bill. I was told the doctors bill separately. I saw 3 doctors while I was there. Why 3 I have no idea. But one doctor had me admitted, then another doctor saw me before I went to my room, and the third doctor gave me the test results the next morning and released me. So I wait for those bills.
But I've rambled on long enough for now.