Shoestring Budget: Midday Moola Update

H. and I can be pretty unlucky in some ways, and pretty lucky in others. When good fortune unexpectedly strikes, it makes me think of that little guy on the Monopoly chance cards--the benevolent one, who delivers good news about a dividend or tells you to "Pass go, collect $200," so you can fly right over those greedy real estate moguls who want your rent money. Especially on the Boardwalk--yikes.

Lucky Mail
H. called my cell shortly after noon.

"Alice? I wanted to tell you that a miracle happened," he said. I knew right away it was a check in our mailbox. We've been in this bind before. This time, the check was for $380.95.

It came straight out of the blue, like the time I was low on cash and looked down and found a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk in NYC a couple of years ago.

Giant Payback
It is a payment from Oxford Health Plans for an out-of-network [OON] claim they did not cover in 2003. Yes, seven years ago. How completely bizarre.

I was just plowing through our stack of bills and unopened mail last night and saw a Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action and Final Settlement Hearing in the case of the American Medical Association vs. United HealthCare Corporation. Apparently, the AMA was suing United HealthCare and its subsidiaries/affiliates for providing insufficient OON reimbursement by using a "flawed database" system to determine amounts. The document is 15 pages of small type, and includes forms if you want to file a claim. No way I could remember anything to file, or be willing to wade through years of records. [But obviously, this would be a huge deal for those with serious medical bills.]

All I know is that as two freelance writers, we paid $14,382 in monthly premiums to Oxford in 2009 to cover ourselves and Figgy--an outrageous amount, and it seems we never meet our deductibles or get anything back. They don't cover counseling, either, until we spend some ridiculous out-of-pocket amount. So getting $380.95 out of the blue is a minor miracle.

Feast or Famine
That's how my freelance friends describe the writer's money cycle. But I've decided I want to change it. I have a full 7 months left in 2010 to bring up my income and make it steadier. So does H. I plan to pitch two of my editors with ideas today, even as I finish up two other assignments.

The one thing I will admit, though, is now that I have a little cash again, the first thing that popped into my mind is that I could get an iced coffee at Starbucks today. The second, that I can get cheese now, so we don't have to have cheeseless turkey tacos for dinner. The third, that we can put some gas in our car. How quickly we switch from doing without to doing with.

In any case, hello up there? Merci.