Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Million Dollar Babies

When I found out we were expecting twins, I began scouring craigslist and rummaging through consignment stores to find one more of everything we already had from Brenna and things like double strollers, swings, etc. I am a very frugal person, so I actually thought it was fun to find a great deal on slightly used baby items. I had the genius plan that I was going to save money by buying used items. I had it all figured out that I would be able to get all the baby supplies I needed for a fraction of what it would cost to get those items new. We were a little scared about the idea of adding two new people to our family and the added costs that would entail. It's ironically funny to think about the couple hundred dollars I saved compared to the thousands we ended up spending.  So much for that plan of saving money!



Our out of pocket maximum for the year is $4,000 per child. We met that in just a few weeks. That doesn't seem too bad until you figure in all the co-pays you still have to pay. Each therapy appointment and pediatrician appointment has a co-pay of $25 and with two babies, each time we see a therapist or a pediatrician, we spend $50. Then you have the specialists who get $50 for each kid, so when we see those, there goes $100. The grand total of what we payed out was $16,200 for 2010. And we were worried about how we would pay for their college education when I was pregnant. At least, you have 18 years to prepare for that.


Out of curiosity, I called our insurance to find out how much they have paid out on each of the babies so far. The staggering total for Cade was $682,722.84, and Camdyn's shocking total came in at $724,648.18.  Camdyn's total is greater for 2010 because of her week-long stay at Dell when she was sick with a cold.  Since they did not know what was causing her oxygen needs, they did just about every test imaginable - EKG, chest scans, brain scans, and on and on.  I am sure that Cade's total will surpass Camdyn's once his surgery and hospital stay bills roll in.  If you haven't done the math yet, the total of what insurance has paid and what we have paid on both babies equals a whopping $1,423,571.02.  That's almost one and a half MILLION dollars!  Luckily, we have a lifetime maximum of $5 million on each baby.  Let's hope we don't get anywhere near that number.



Doesn't that look like $1.5 million dollars right there?





Look - I have over a million dollars just sitting and smiling in my kitchen sink.  How many people can say that?













 














3 comments:

Unknown said...

Funny, looks like so much more than a million dollars to me. I love, love, love those smiles.

Amber said...

I love this post! Your babies are precious and totally worth that million dollars!

Jenn said...

They are just the most darling little angels!