I’ve just gotten off the phone, after thirty minutes, wih our health insurance company.  It seems that they, for some strange reason, have been filing all of our most recent claims as “out-of-network” instead of “in-network”.  So, instead of charging us 10% for each visit to the doctor, they have been charging us 40%!

Spending thirty minutes on the phone with an insurance company is never pleasant, but, I did manage to find a very competent representative and she quickly explained that the mistake was on “their end” and not “mine”.  Taking the time to review several Explanation Of Benefits from my insurance company and several bills from our doctors proved to be beneficial – to the tune of saving $208.34.

Remember, if you receive a bill for a service, and you don’t understand it, make a phone call.  Do not give up until you find someone who can and will thouroughly explain each and every charge.  Before I hung up the phone, we went through every single claim from 2008, just to make sure that this had not happened earlier in the year.  Thankfully, there were only problems associated with bills submitted in the past two months.

I have already put it on my calendar to call back in a month, just to check in with them.  Hopefully, all issues will have been corrected.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s largest health insurer (Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia) sent an estimated 202,000 benefits letters containing personal and health information to the wrong addresses last week, in a privacy breach that also raised concerns about potential identity theft.

Please click the link above to read the entire article, but it appears that the letters contained not only medical information but some also contained social security numbers.

Georgia’s Office of Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John W. Oxendine posted this web alert with more information – including contact numbers – for those who have questions about this situation.

For those worried about identity theft, you might want to consider submitting a fraud alert (security freeze) to each of the credit bureaus:

Click here to submit one to Equifax or here to submit one to Experian.  TransUnion does not have an online form for submitting a fraud alert, but you can click here to find their contact information.

(Back in October, I lost my wallet and submitted a fraud alert to Experian.  According to their site, they notified the other bureaus for me.  I’m not sure if they still do this.  So, if you file an alert at their site, and they tell you that they’ll notify the other bureus, leave a comment and let me know!)

I’m on a roll.  Here’s what I’ve done today.  (No more procrastinating…)

Term Life Insurance – I went online (to insure.com and zanderins.com) and got quotes for two term life insurance policies, one for me and one for wife.  I chose 20 year level term policies that equal 12 times our annual incomes.  (We already have two term life policies, and we may or may not choose to keep them, once the new policies are approved.)

Disability Insurance – Again, I requested quotes and applications from zanderins.com.  The applications should arrive in the next few days.

Wills – I spoke with my attorney.  Tomorrow, at 11:00 AM, my wife and I will sign our new wills.  Tomorrow night, I’ll sleep soundly.

Renter’s, Automobile, and Umbrella Policies -  Right now, I have sufficient Renter’s and Automobile coverage.  But, I have my policies with two separate companies.  I’m looking into moving those policies to a single agent – and then obtaining an Umbrella policy.  Tomorrow, I’ll contact both of my agents and see what each offers.  (I might end up canceling both policies and going with an entirely new agent, if need be.)

Organizational Steps -

I spent some time today organizing several of our important documents.  I put our marriage certificate, the kids’ birth certificates, and our income tax returns in a safe, secure place.  I also made copies of all of our insurance policies.  Tomorrow, I’ll put a copy of our new wills in the same place.  And, I updated our list of accounts.  (I update this list two or three times a year, so that my wife will have easy access to our current financial situation.)

I’ve done all that I can do for today.  Tomorrow, we’ll sign our new wills and I’ll call both of my insurance agents.  It feels good to get the ball rolling and it will feel even better, once all of my bases have been sufficiently covered.

Alright, I have procrastinated long enough.

A few months ago, I went to a lawyer and had him draw up new wills, one for me and one for my wife.  But, even though I have them sitting in a folder in a filing cabinet, we haven’t signed them.  So, tomorrow, I’m going to call his office and my wife and I are going to make them official.  Why have I waited so long?  Shear laziness?  How does that sound?  Sadly, it’s the truth.

I also need to revamp my current insurance situation.  Tomorrow, after meeting with the lawyer, I’m going to visit my insurance agent.  I need to increase our term life coverage, rework my automobile insurance coverage, purchase long term disability, renew my renter’s policy, and talk to the agent about an umbrella policy.

I’ve put these changes and upgrades off for far too long.  Right now, we have minimal coverage.  By the end of the week, we should have substantially more coverage and I’ll feel much better.  I should have taken care of this a long time ago.  But, there’s no need in beating myself up about it.

Do you procrastinate?  If so, why?  If not, how do you avoid it?  Like a kid putting off a term paper, I find that I procrastinate – mainly when I’m unsure of the next step to take.  So, foolishly, I just do nothing, until, in a panic, I have to deal with the consequences of my procrastination.  Silly me.