Wednesday, Dec. 01, 2004

screwed

Right now I am going through the process of being screwed over by my employer. Health insurance costs are rising. This I know. This is not new news, but apparently to many members of the education board it is, because this all ends up being last minute.

Teachers, as most are well aware, do not get paid nearly enough for the amount of work, heart and soul, that they do. One of the perks of being a teacher is that teachers (usually) have full, good, benefits. Historically, this has been a sticking point with union negotiations and the union always wins. Especially in the culture of the system in which I teach, where pay is much lower than the public school, we were always told “You might not make much money but at least you’ll get very good benefits.”

Not so. Not so, my dear readers.

My employer has found a way to get around the “full coverage” promise to all their teachers. Our insurance carrier is changing to an HMO at the beginning of 2005. Sure, our “insurance” is fully covered. But, if we want prescription coverage or dental coverage, we have to pay in for it.

I am aware that those of you in the business world are probably thinking to yourselves “So what! I have to pay 10, 20, 50% of my health care coverage.” But keep in mind that is not the culture of educators. Our job is HARD work (not that yours isn’t) and most of the illnesses we get come from the students anyway! Let me remind you, while a school is in some ways operated like a business, a school is not in place to make money. A school is NOT a business. A small, private, Christian school is a non-profit organization.

Well, after finding out this morning that I will probably no longer have dental coverage after the first of the year (I can’t afford it) I called a dentist to make an appointment. They were able to get me in TODAY. I was so excited. I was not so excited when I was informed that I grind my teeth (why did no other dentist find this important to tell me? I didn’t know!) and two of my fillings had “worn down”. So now I have another dental appointment tomorrow (Aren’t they efficient?) but before that I have a meeting with Mr. Insurance. There is a possibility (however very slim!) it would be more cost effective for me to get the dental coverage than pay the deductible tomorrow. I’m not sure how this will play out.

All I can say is: I cannot wait to get a new job where health insurance (better be!) better and move!

And a hectic time was had by all!

>