As I'm sure most of you know, having a baby isn't cheap. You start paying out of pocket expenses when the baby is still baking in the oven. I've been doing a lot of research lately on my insurance benefits...and well they semi-suck. During our last appointment we spoke with the insurance clerk and she went over what our responsibility is...how many visits I will have, how many ultrasounds etc. It's funny, the doctor doesn't charge much (or at least what I thought babies cost to deliver), so I'm sure all that nice fun stuff will be added on by the hospital - boo.
I'm not one to ask for favors or help, because (for me) it's embarrassing. I like to fend for myself, period. Hardy and I are nowhere NOWHERE close to rich, we would definitely be more comfortable if we didn't have some credit card debt, but we do and we're trying to be as responsible as we can by paying it off. I can say we've never gotten a collection call or delinquent notice - but believe me upholding that is hard. Sometimes I wonder how in the world we do what we do, but it all seems to work itself out.
Anyway, back on topic. I've had several friends ask me if I qualify for "government assistance" since I'm pregnant. Honestly, I had never thought about it. In a perfect world insurance covers us 100% - - ha ha who was I kidding?? My work has Aetna right now and not only do I have a $1500 deductible, but they only cover 70% of the hospital ::jaw drops:: . So for curiosity's sake I went on online to see what these "government assistance" benefits were and if I was eligible. For some reason, I thought every one was allowed WIC, wrong....just goes to show how naive I am. I always thought WIC was there to make sure the mother/child got the best nutrition during and after pregnancy and technically they are, but only if you make like $0.50/week (okay a little more than that....but you catch my drift).
Another friend said even if you have insurance, you can apply for pregnancy only Medicaid which can be used as a secondary insurance after your primary is filed....ok I got really excited about that. I figure, I've been paying taxes steadily for 9yrs now, why not see if I can benefit from it? Uhh wrong...we make too much money for that, we even make too much money for PeachCare. How is it you can make too much money for "help", but you don't make enough to live on once the baby gets here? I guess these are things I should have considered before ditching birth control, but honestly I didn't think I would get knocked up, let alone so quickly.
Sooooo no wonder we have millions of people who don't work (and don't want to)....why would you when you can have all this free stuff handed to you? It's us - the middle class who get the short end of the stick. Because we are working and paying our taxes, we aren't allowed help. This is so twisted. I'm not asking for a million bucks, but if a woman with 6 kids under 10yrs of age all with different dads can get free cheese, milk, cereal (the list goes on) then I sure as crap should too. I know I know, you didn't get me pregnant and it's not your fault I even looked to see of I was eligible and was declined...but I'm making a valid point.
Now there's even the argument about birth control swirling in politics...
Some of the public doesn't want birth control to be FREE because they don't believe in it. Others don't want to "pay" to tell girls/women it's ok to have sex...aside from the fact birth control is used for other reasons of it's actual name - WOULDN'T PAYING FOR BIRTH CONTROL BE CHEAPER THAN PAYING FOR LAZY PEOPLE TO HAVE AN UNGODLY AMOUNT OF CHILDREN AND CONTINUE TO USE THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THEY CAN?!?!
::disclaimer::
I'm not bashing anyone who has used government assistance, I'm bashing the lazy ones who don't care about how many kids they have and don't take care of them, but continue to have them. I think those of us who do have jobs deserve assistance just like the next person....
::SIGH:: I almost wish I had never discovered the government assistance offers, because now I think it's a load of crap.
End. Rant.
I posted something similiar on Facebook one day and on my blog. The ones I have a problem with are able-bodied people that don't (and won't) work because they fair better living off the government and have boocoodles of kids. It gripes my a$$. And I'm the exact same as you; Keith and I are by no means wealthy but stable but I won't be getting a paycheck while I'm on maternity leave and it SUCKS.
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DeleteNo paycheck for me either, maternity leave doesn't exist at my work, but they allow time off via FMLA. I do have a short term policy with Aflac, but I think it only pays me 60% of my income...better than nothing I guess.
DeleteI totally agree! When Damian was born I was talking to random people who were very able to work and we were talking about how expensive formula is. They then said, "You actually PAY for formula?" I had no idea what they were talking about. I told them yeah, we definitely don't steal it! It drives me crazy that my husband and I work our tails off to provide for our family and all of these people who can work choose not to in order to collect their govt money. We have to pay so much where lazy people can collect their checks. When I had to be admitted to the hospital at 30 weeks with Mad the nurse was laughing when we were leaving that we should even take the cup of water they gave me because we would pay for it and we were some of the only people there actually paying and not getting the govt to. As I write my checks for our medical expenses that insurance doesn't cover it infuriates me that lazy people get it for free.
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