Woes

Sometimes it sucks to be a public servant! Don't get me wrong, I love being a special education teacher. I love seeing the students who struggle make gains by leaps and bounds and seeing the smiles on their faces when they meet with success. Its the other factors outside my classroom that makes me shudder and rethink why I chose my career.

Spencer will be on my insurance (I hope). I called our benefits department to find out what the procedure for adding him as a dependent is. I was told that there is no free coverage for him and that for the time that I will be out on FMLA (they don't cover maternity), I must pay the premium for him. The cost? $377 per month. So that $377 for May, $377 for June, $377 for July, and $377 for August when I will not be working nor receiving a paycheck. Then in September, they will deduct $571 from my first paycheck and the following months to cover the cost of his insurance. Why so much? Apparently they retro the cost back to January (when he clearly was not physically in this world) and that is why it will be sooo expensive. In January it will revert back to $377 if the cost of coverage does not increase. I can choose to go back to work 4 weeks after he arrives but that will only cover him for one month and I would still have to pay the premium.

What the heck????? I have never heard such foolishness! When I was in college and on my dad's insurance, he paid half that amount per month to cover the entire family! I am ticked off and sort of in a panic. I like being able to live off of one salary and if Spencer goes on my insurance, then that goes out the window. Considering that hubby is still unemployed and if we had not lived this way prior we would have been in big trouble this past year.

Spencer needs insurance! I have called around for independent insurance for him but he has to be 6 months or 1 year. I am praying hubby lands a job before Spencer gets here or a month after he gets here.

Have any of you ever faced this dilemma? What did you do?

Awaiting my expected end,

Marie