March 18 Insurance woes

Today was another in a series of traumatic news on the health/insurance front. Jim mentioned something about our health insurance not covering the cost of his treatments at Dana Farber. So, I decided to get a second opinion. I called Empire personally from work. The first person with whom I spoke, Brittany, did nothing to console me as she flatly said that we have NO in-network coverage ANYWHERE for the Hematology/Oncology treatment that Jim needs. I was prepared with an online list of possible treatment facilities - Memorial Sloan Kettering (Manhattan), Dana Farber (Boston), Roswell Park (Rochester), etc... and one by one, she dismissed them all. After I hung up the phone, all I could do was cry and wonder how we're going to make it all work. Jim had previously learned that to go out of network under our plan would cost a $5000 deductible up front, then the insurance would pay 50 cents on every dollar of charges. This treatment will bankrupt us. Even so, Dana Farber is the best place for Jim to get better, and together we decided that regardless of the bills, Dana Farber is where Jim will go.