insurance Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Back porch and new insurance

As I mentioned last year, we wanted to replace our back porch, which was beyond repair. We tried contracting with someone two years ago to work on a more ambitious project, but it didn’t pan out.

In July 2024, we learned that the insurance company covering our home and auto would be going out of business. Suddenly, we needed to get new coverage. We also knew that, because of the condition of the back porch, we needed it replaced ASAP. Otherwise, we would never get an insurance policy approved.

We had contracted with someone to work on this, and he said he’d get to it in August, but he didn’t get started until October, which made us very anxious. It’s very hard for people to work on our back porch because we have no driveway. So he had to try to park his vehicle on our front lawn before the school traffic made it impossible. One of his workers had injured himself in the weeks before he started working on our project, so it was a one-person job.

Phase 2

Then, we had to get the city to say it looked OK. Finally, we could contact an insurance company to ask them to look at the house. “Please insure our house and our car.”

It was tedious because the new insurance company seemed to need bits and pieces of information. What is my non-driver’s ID number? What is my daughter’s driver’s permit number? When were they issued, and when did they expire? Then, the expected questions, such as our bank account number, so we could get the money pulled out.

Finally, on December 26th, five days before the old policy expired, the new documents arrived at our house. They are full of words that make my eyes glaze over. The new policy costs about 30% more than the previous one, and the deductible is greater, but I guess this is what you need to own a house in America. Because I had never owned a house until I married, and it had been hers before that, this is an area I know surprisingly little about.

Phase 3

The new insurance was supposed to be paid automatically through our bank, but for some reason, it didn’t work out. They threatened to cancel the new policy, but paying the money was swift.

They seemed more annoyed that they wanted all these photos of our dwelling, something my wife worked on before we applied for the policy. Somehow, they didn’t get the info from the intake person to the person writing up the policies, so we seemed to be out of compliance with their process.

As a result, my wife spent four hours taking photos of under our bathroom sinks, under the kitchen sink, the pipes downstairs, and whatnot. Finally, we got our insurance reinstated as long as we signed an agreement to get rid of some moss on our roof—not the primary roof but the roof over our porch, which we couldn’t do in February. They insisted that we get a contractor to agree to remediate this problem whether the weather improves. What a royal pain.

Lydster: Apostille

certified

Thanks to my daughter, I’ve learned a new word, apostille, which I’ll describe in due course. She decided to study abroad in the second semester of this college year. There’s a database she consulted to discern where to go based on her interests in art, black studies, environmental studies, and social justice.

She found one college in Botswana and three in South Africa: one in Johannesburg and the others in Cape Town. So she picked one, and then the process began. Because her current college compiled grades in a non-conventional way, she didn’t get approved for this process until late October. This seems like a reasonable amount of time, except that one has to get a visa to be a student in South Africa.

She made an appointment and was given January 21, 2025, to appear at the South African consulate in New York City. (One has to go to NYC, LA, or DC.) After writing a letter of appeal, the time was changed to January 14, and her February 5 flight was still a tight deadline.

The extensive list

Before the consulate visit, she had to check off items on this list. One item was a Notarized copy of the birth certificate. What does THAT mean?

Since my daughter was away at college, I went to Albany City Hall to get another copy of her birth certificate. We had the original, but I correctly surmised we’d need another one. It was a good thing I went in that direction. Once I got the birth certificate ($17), I got this page from the city clerk’s office. “Once a certified record is issued by the city of Albany, that record must go to the Albany County clerk’s office. The fee is $3 per document. The record must be issued within the last six months.” Fortunately, the city and county clerks are only a short distance apart on Eagle Street.

“The documents must then go to the New York State Secretary of State, Miscellaneous Records the country where the document is to be sent must be specified. The fee is $10 per document. ” That is at 99 Washington Avenue, not too far away.

The word at the top of the page the city clerk’s office gave me is Apostille. It is “a document used in international law that is issued by a government in accordance with the Hague Convention, and that certifies that another document has been signed by a notary public.”

Plus

She also needed a “Machine-readable valid passport with at least two (2) unused (blank) pages labeled Visa when presented at the Embassy or Consulate; one page for affixing the visa or permit by the embassy/consulate and the other page for endorsement of entry/departure stamp by the South African Immigration Services. Passport must be valid for 30 more days after the intended return date from South Africa.”

As it turned out, I had… persuaded her to get a passport in February 2024, which allowed her to dream about going abroad.

Two (2) passport photos with white or light background

She got this when she was home for Thanksgiving break. These are for the visa.

Medical report on prescribed form (physical). The certificate must not be older than six (6) months at the time the applicant submits an application.

It was also completed during the T-day break.

Original FBI certificate (full criminal background check report) and original police clearance certificate from each country where the relevant applicant resided for 12 months or longer after attaining the age of 18 years (for the last 5 years) in respect of criminal records or the character of that applicant, which certificate shall not be older than six months at the time of its submission.

Ditto. This was done in Half Moon, a small hamlet in the metro area that is not especially nearby.

What else?

Certified/notarized copy of bio page of the passport
Proof of financial means in the form of recent three months bank statements stamped by bank, and notarized letter from the parents stating the financial responsibility.
Proof of sufficient financial means available to the learner while in South Africa
Certified copy of ID of person taking financial responsibility, with three months statement and stamped letter from the bank.

Our financial institutions (banks, credit unions) handled “certified/notarized” slightly differently.

Proof of itinerary/reservation of round trip air tickets. Please do not purchase air tickets until you obtain a South African visa.

How do we prove an itinerary without buying a ticket? We purchase a (more expensive) refundable ticket.

But we HAVE insurance, don’t we?

Proof of medical cover, renewed annually, for the period of study with a medical scheme registered under the Medical Schemes Act.

This confused me somewhat, as the entity arranging the trip provided a policy through a company that “provides a complete network of travel insurance coverage—medical insurance, 24-hour emergency assistance, trip and baggage delay, loss of baggage, and much more!” However, the company was NOT registered under the Medical Schemes Act.

On January 6, I purchased a qualifying insurance policy. I had a copy of my receipt, but we didn’t have a copy of the policy. I wrote to them again on January 10th, and they sent the policy to my daughter, saying they had sent it previously. Unfortunately, it was password-protected, and we had no idea what the password was. Luckily, my daughter wrote to them again, and they gave us a clean copy we could print.

So, on Monday, January 13, my daughter and I took a train to New York City in anticipation of the trip to the South African consulate with what we HOPED was everything we needed, including a US Postal Service self-addressed, pre-paid courier envelope “to facilitate return services” and a “non-refundable fee of $36.00 money order for processing.”

More soon.

Series of everyday annoyances

change of policy

I noticed a series of everyday annoyances. Some were small and brief, but still…

ITEM: I wrote this letter to a local newspaper to which I subscribe. I’ll call it Teeyou.

I have been a subscriber for many years. Our family believes that supporting local media is important for the democratic process. And we like helping our delivery folks, who have been very amiable.

Still, I am quite irritated. The subscription price went up from X to X+$8 [per month]. I know this because my DISCOVER card email noted today, “Your recent recurring charge seems a little outside your normal spending with this merchant.”

I tried calling you folks… to see what other options are available, such as delivery for Sunday only, Sunday and Thursday only, or only online, but I couldn’t navigate that menu.

So I tried to access you on the website. I get to the Link Subscription. “Your print subscription includes unlimited digital access. To get started, set up a digital account below.”

[I explain how its portal sent me into an interminable loop] I go through this process AGAIN and AGAIN. You FIND my subscription, but I can’t get any more detail.

Given that I could cancel the thing for a month and then get my daughter to subscribe for $1 for six months, the processes are rather enraging.

PLEASE let me know what the other subscription options are.

But, but…

Here is the reply:

Thank you for contacting Teeyou. Reviewing the information provided, I noticed you had a rate change on 11/16/2022… Rate increases happen due to production and employee costs at least once a year as is on the back of your bill [I don’t receive a bill] or on the second page of your newspaper. However, for being one of our valued subscribers, the system allowed me to lower the rate to [slightly below the price before the increase]

Please confirm if you agree to the new rate so I can apply the changes to your account.

Thank you for being a valued subscriber,

Customer Service Management

Note that they NEVER actually answered my question about options.

ITEM: As I noted, St. Peter’s Hospital and CDPHP, the insurance company that my wife and daughter have through my retirement, were at loggerheads over reimbursement. My former employer’s people assumed it would be resolved. The problem was that I had to decide by November 30, one way or another. I decided to change to another policy on that last day. And on December 3, the entities resolved their differences.

ITEM: Our mail was not delivered at least four times since Halloween. Thrice it was doubled up, with so much mail cascading from the mailbox that it looked like waterfalls. The fourth time, our postal delivery person was delivering on Sunday. BTW, I recognize that our regular guy is fastidiously trying to get letters and packages delivered.

ITEM: The urgent care company I wanted my daughter to visit last month encourages going to their website. But I couldn’t use it after they closed for the day; one can’t even make an appointment for a future date. BTW, they also say one can just show up, but experience tells me that would be a three-hour wait.

ITEM: New York State law requires vehicles using their windshield wipers must have their lights on. But this black car heading towards us didn’t, and it wasn’t easy to see. As it turned out, it was an Albany police car. I hate when that happens.

Insurance stress: CDPHP, St. Peter’s

health insurance

I am experiencing some insurance stress based on two pieces of mail my wife and daughter received the same day last week. If you want to write a blues song after reading this, feel free.

The letter was from St. Peter’s Health Partners. It runs most of the city’s hospitals, clinics, and doctors’ offices that aren’t part of the Albany Medical Center. All of our primary care physicians are part of SPHP.

“Our records show that at the time of your last visit…, you… receive your health through a CDPHP commercial health plan.” CDPHP is the Capital District Community Health Plan. “Please be aware that [SPHP] has engaged in negotiations with CDPHP for a more equitable agreement to ensure we can continue to deliver high-quality, community-based care.”

Didn’t we do this dance a few years ago, which got resolved at the 11th hour?

In bold: “Our current agreement is set to expire effective January 1, 2023; meaning some patients may have increased financial responsibility when seeking care from [SPHP] in 2023 because CDPHP no longer includes the following facilities in its network.” Over a dozen facilities, including St. Peter’s Hospital, Samaritan Hospital, and five Eddy facilities, are on the list. Interestingly, no related mail from CDPHP has arrived.

On the coverage

Meanwhile, my wife and my daughter also received a Benefits Bulletin from my former employer, the Research Foundation for The State University of New York, or SUNY RF. “If you are a retiree or an eligible dependent of a retiree and you are not eligible for Medicare, your current RF benefits will continue for 2023 unless you make changes during open enrollment.” That window is November 1-30.

Just in case we need to make a change, I went to the SUNY RF portal to see if I could find the forms to change their coverage, but none of them seemed appropriate. Some were for the retiree (me), while some were for the retiree and dependents. I am on a different plan for administrative reasons.

So I called the SUNY RF number on Monday and then a different one on Wednesday. I was offered the same form to make changes, even though it didn’t make sense to me. If I change my wife and daughter to a Blue Cross program, I hope SUNY RF does not muck it up.

CVS

Meanwhile, a good friend of mine writes on Facebook: “We’ve…just been notified by [CDPHP] that CVS will no longer take our prescription insurance effective 1/1/2023… This is very upsetting because CVS is very convenient to where we live, has a drive-through, and the closest to our house is one of the only 24-hour pharmacies in the Capital District.” We got no such letter from CDPHP.

I called my local CVS pharmacist. They said that CVS has declined to take the CDPHP price schedule, so it may very well cost more to fill prescriptions there, but they won’t really know until they start filling them next year.

This issue will be a primary concern of mine this month because I can’t wait until the CDPHP/SPHP issue gets resolved in December if, in fact, it does.

Unsettled. Deeply unsettled.

too much insurance

In early 2022, I have felt deeply unsettled. The snow/ice event was an amazing time suck. I spent a minimum of 12 hours chopping ice over five days, and it was exhausting.

Returning the unwanted devices made me anxious because I needed to get them within 14 days. Not two weeks from when I got them but a fortnight after their package was sent. I went to one of those FedEx drop boxes, which was very convenient, even though I felt the persons checking me out gave me the vibe that I was some sort of terrorist dropping off an explosive device. And I’m still unclear about whether I’ve been compromised, though Experian seems to think not.

One of those annoying things I, and most retirees, have to deal with is a ton of solicitations from Medicare Supplement providers. And for a time I had two of these insurance policies. This was NOT a good thing. This involved getting reimbursed for the insurance I no longer had, paying for the new insurance, and waiting for reimbursement for that. Plus the hassle of contacting all of my medical providers.

Other passings

I’ve discussed Paul Weinstein, who I had last seen when his daughter and my daughter were inducted into the honor society in November; I attended his funeral. The choir sang at the funeral of Michael Attwell, with whom I had sung on Christmas Eve.

I had briefly mentioned Kay Olin Johnson, a fellow member of the Olin Family Society, who I last spoke with on 15 January. Subsequently, she commented on my Facebook page how much she enjoyed talking with me. Then she died on 22 January. On 3 February I contacted someone in my old office for Reasons and discovered that Kay had sent mail to my wife and me there.

It was forwarded a week later. Kay had sent her holiday greetings. She wrote of home improvements she did finish in 2021 but promised pictures of the changes in December 2022. She likewise suggested some genealogical news in the coming year. But mostly, her letter was about her far-flung family, who she greatly appreciated, especially since her husband Don had died 31 years earlier.

Betty Curtis, who died 11 Feb was an extremely talented member of my church choir and very generous of spirit. She was the one person who dealt well with a certain cranky soul. She was active in that choir from at least the 1960s to just a few years ago. Her birthday was a couple of days after mine. And she LOVED her Butler Bulldogs men’s basketball team. Her funeral is upcoming.

Health Care in America

It’s always disturbing to me when people are forced to start, or their friends initiate a Go Fund Campaign for someone’s health care. It’s more irritating when it’s someone I know. Ken Screven, a well-known TV reporter in this area “faces mounting medical bills.” His friends started a GoFundMe campaign and raised over $33,000, crushing the goal of $25,000.

But should this be the way we do health in this country?

Lockdown

At my daughter’s high school this past Thursday, two freshmen got into an altercation. Then one cut both the other kid and a hall monitor. The school went into lockdown; my daughter texted me that neither the students nor the adults in her room were quiet, as is recommended. Incidentally, the alleged assailant, 14, was hiding in the cafeteria with the other students until he was found out.

I was most annoyed with the tease for WRGB’s news broadcast. “Violence boils over at Albany High School.” The following day was remote, the third school district that went to distance learning that week for non-COVID reasons.

My daughter had already had experienced a rough week, so this did not help.

I read the news today

A crazy lady was complaining about the gazpacho police. Another GOP MOC says Americans must own enough weapons to overthrow the government if 30-40% agree on “tyranny”.

But I was most distressed by a former president hiding or destroying government docs. This goes beyond mere politics. This is proof – once again – that he doesn’t understand that the Presidency is a trust.

Also, not just the country but much of the world is at war over COVID mandates. I’m not quite to the surrender mode yet, but I’m teetering. Hey, I could say, I’ve got my three shots, and I’d get a fourth if suggested. I’m going to keep wearing my mass indoors, so don’t bother me if you don’t like it. But it seems the fight is tearing the fabric of society apart. It is wearying, as is the possibility of another Greek letter.

There are other things, but these are the big ones. The cumulative effect has left me unsettled.