Government healthcare 03/20/23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a non-happy topic. Evil dragons ahead!! So, November of last year I thought, "Hey, I haven't poked at Healthcare.gov in a while, maybe I'll have a lookie-look." I hop on the website and click some links, and find out that for people who earn a living there is still no affordable healthcare on healthcare.gov. I get it, someone out there thinks it's the bees knees (in fact, I think I recall reading someone extolling the virtues of it on gopher!) but it ain't this guy. Fine, no big deal. My healthshare and self-pay is working out pretty well. It's a lot of work and expense, but it gets the job done. Then, a few days after that episode, I get a bill in the mail for a state healthcare plan for two of my kids. Nice... bamboozled! Tricked into signing up for something I don't need or want. I don't recall asking to sign up for that, but they did get really, really pushy about getting all my info before I could even browse, so it's not terribly surprising. Alright, fine. I call the number on the bill. This is the first level of hell. If you can make it through all the prompts and menus, you get placed in a line. It was a while ago, but I recall being on hold for more than an hour. Then, they notify me that I need to call another number, not the one on the bill. Wow, thank you. I call that number and wait on hold again, this time I believe it was something just under a half hour. This person says they can help me, takes some info and makes some notes, and bob's your uncle, I'm clear. I should get a letter confirming in 7-10 business days. Those days pass, and no mail. The second level of hell has been entered. at this point. I call again, and give them all the information about my previous calls (I know to take detailed notes when dealing with the Government.) They inform me that it can actually take up to 30 days for that letter to go out, but that yes, they can see on their notes that it is in the works. How nice! So, I pack up the notes and paperwork and put it in a file. No need to worry, if the mail comes I'll file it. Fast forward to today, when the third level of hell began. I get another bill in the mail, for the service that I never signed up for and don't want, and already canceled according to two representatives. I call the number on the sheet, and wait on hold for 40 minutes. The representative tells me I have to call another division, and gives me a new phone number (one that I don't already have, surprise surprise). I call them and enter the fourth level of hell, the cyclical phone menu system. This time, I give up on the phone system. Humans won't help. At least, not humans that work for government healthcare (yes, this is .gov land people, solidly in the gov's court.) So I take to the internet and work my way through their website, digging up an email address and a fax number that seem to belong to the right department. I even found an online document submission system (which doesn't work in Firefox, but oh well.) I write up a document with my signature on it and some account numbers and a formal request to "voluntarily close the case" the verbiage that one phone person let slip. I email, submit, and fax it, and NOW bob's your uncle. I hope. My morning was shot. Ah well. I had work to do, too. *** Note: I know my life is amazing if I can complain about wasting time with government programs. I know some people find government healthcare a life-saving blessing that brings tears to their eyes. I'm super glad that I have the blessings that I have in my life, and I know a lot of people have it much, much worse. I wish I could help them all, but I do what I can. I wish government agencies would stop being greedy pigs, ruining everything in sight with their idiocy, but they won't. The reason I bother paying any attention to this nonsense at all is this: I know that if I don't cross all my t's and dot all my i's as a parent, the government can step in and give me the deepest levels of hell, the ones where people abandon all hope, through their so-called welfare services. This means that since I triggered something with my healthcare.gov exploration, I have to follow it to whatever end they force, or face retribution. If you think I'm full of it, do some research. For now, I've closed the folder once again. Maybe I'll get verification that I've done enough grovelling, and maybe they'll send me some verification that the cases are closed. Maybe not. Perhaps I'll get another bill, and be forced to run the Pavlovian gambit again. In any case, right now it's time for lunch.