Insurance Issues, Taxing Troubles

631: The number of dollars I (???) owe my doctor.

I can't believe we're only a few short days away from February. This month really did fly by. I thought that only happened the month before Christmas.

Remember how I was getting frustrated about all the speed bumps in my trainings because of glitches in the system and typos in the book? I spent all of Monday morning going through all three scenarios in the tax guide so I would know exactly where the issues were.

I don't get it. I got through the scenarios just fine. There was only one typo I hadn't been aware of before. But at least I remembered each scenario more clearly, so that when people got confused at my tax training on Tuesday it was easier to figure out where they had gone wrong.

Wednesday was a slow day, and Thursday I had a doctor's appointment for my last ankle check-up. I gave the lady at the front desk my debit card for my $5 co-pay as soon as I signed in.

LADY: Great, thank you. You also have a balance with us, would you like to pay that off now?
ME: ...Well how much is the balance?
LADY: It's six thirty-one.
ME: Like...hundred? Like $631.00??
LADY: Yep.
ME: ... No, I would not like to pay that off, thank you. I think I'll call my insurance company instead.

I went in to see Dr. Daily, who said my ankle was still puffy and stiff, but on the mend. When I got to my car, I called my insurance company for the umpteenth time to find out what was up. Apparently they had only received one claim from the doctor, so I had them send all the paperwork in again.

This is getting incredibly frustrating. I have had to call my insurance company at least once a week since November trying to get this taken care of, and every time I do they give me a new excuse. I don't know what else they expect me to do...I make like $4/hour so I can't really afford this bill.

Urgh. Moving on.

We've had a lot of calls lately from people who want to make an appointment for us to do their taxes. Since we lost our only HarvestCorps member about a month ago, all of these appointments fall on Kaitlyn and me, even though we're not supposed to do a lot of direct service. Shared Harvest is hosting a tax clinic on February 13, so we've been trying to persuade people to come in then, but most don't want to wait that long.

Kaitlyn and I put together a flyer so we can drive around to local businesses and hang them up. We're also putting out a news release. Hopefully we can get a lot of people into the tax clinic!

And on that note, if you are interested in having your taxes done for free with the Ohio Benefit Bank, and getting your FULL REFUND, call us at 800-352-3663 and make an appointment for February 13. Walk-ins are also welcome. You have to have a 2009 AGI of $57,000 or less to be able to use the program.