One of many beautiful sunsets:

Our second day a neighbor warned about a storm coming. So did the sky and lake.

I’ve been working on The Charming Man (Q.C. Davis Series No. 2). Hoping this bug did not die from reading it. But maybe that’s good. Like The Worried Man (Q.C. Davis Series No. 1), it’s suspense/mystery.

We’re using many different spaces.

Here’s a mini-office my niece created, my writing space, the kitchen table moved outside for dinner, and another view of the lake at sunset.

There’s a bench in the foreground of the photo on the bottom corner, just out of the frame, that’s good for sitting and reading or writing.

Maybe we’ll see  fireworks tonight.

The post This Year’s Retreat appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved libraries. At five years old, I got my pinkish orange children’s card at the Brookfield Public Library. I was so excited at the idea of this giant (as it appeared to me then) room full of books. My mom set a limit of five at a time, probably the most she figured I could carry home or possibly keep track of. It was not cheap to pay for lost library books.

The Winter Garden at the Harold Washington Public Library

Back then, the Brookfield library had two levels. You walked up concrete steps outside into the main library, then down carpeted stairs to the basement children’s library. I loved the children’s librarian and talked with her every time I went in. The first time I returned books I thought I should put them back where I’d found them, so I dutifully reshelved them. Mrs. Peters explained that they needed to be checked back in. (I like to think she was pleased that I had placed them on the correct shelves.) You got your white adult card when you turned twelve. Graduating to the main library floor was both exciting and sad. I’d visited the children’s library once or twice a week all throughout grade school. In sixth grade, I’d moved on to the young adult books shelves, which were still in the basement. I suspect many of those now would be considered middle grade books, because the subject matters were fairly tame. Much of what was truly young adult literature was classified as adult literature at the time, including Judy Bloom’s novel Forever. (It was controversial because it showed an eighteen-year-old woman having sex for the first time without suffering negative consequences. Books where teenagers got pregnant and had to go away somewhere and have the baby in secret were allowed on the young adult shelves.) In the main library, I discovered my first Mary Higgins Clark novel on the paperback racks. That in itself was new to me, because all the children’s books were in hard cover.

About six or seven years later, the library was torn down. A new one, all on one level and wheelchair accessible, was built. The projected cost of putting in the elevators and ramps had almost matched building anew, which is why the original library wasn’t preserved. The new one was clean and modern, but I missed the old worn carpets and the feeling of descending into an enchanted world when going down the narrow stairs to the basement. The new children’s section, where I occasionally checked out old favorites, was just another room, which was made even clearer when Mrs. Peters retired. Still, in my mid-twenties, one of the more difficult times in my life, I visited the library often. I had been working at temp and secretarial jobs, as I was a good typist, and writing fiction and playing guitar on the side. I developed a repetitive stress injury in my wrists and hands. The surgical options were not good. I stopped working and moved back in with my parents, feeling like a failure. Bouncing back to mom and dad was fairly unusual at that time, unlike now. In the evenings, I paged through career books in the library searching for something else I was qualified to do that didn’t require a lot of keyboarding and that called for a bachelors degree in Writing/English. (Eventually, I attended a graduate program to earn a paralegal certificate. That later led to my becoming a lawyer.)

During that same decade, I lived on and off in another near west suburb that had a beautiful old library overlooking the Des Plaines river. Its enclosed three-season porch became my favorite place to read in the summer and spring. In the winter and fall, I researched at library carrels in front of leaded glass windows overlooking the river. I discovered some new favorite authors as I wandered the stacks. Since most of the books were hardcover library editions, I pulled them based solely on title. It is there I found my first Sara Paretsky book about female private eye V.I. Warshawski. I’ve read every one since. (For why, see Why I Love VI.)

Right before I started law school, I moved to downtown Chicago. For four years, I worked full time while attending school at night. I had little chance to read fiction, but I visited the Harold Washington Public Library once or twice for research. I found it cavernous and without warmth. Built from 1988 through 1991 and designed by architect Thomas Beeby, the Harold Washington is the largest public library in the world. It houses over six million books plus historical collections of Chicago artifacts. Its top floor is the Winter Garden, with a skylight and lots of marble. For all that, I’ve never loved the library as a whole. Its double high ceilings and sprawling undivided floors make the number of books look skimpy, and I’ve yet to find a cozy place to read. On most floors, the lighting is harsh, and there are long library tables with wooden chairs, but no arm chairs or couches.

Partly because of that, even after finishing law school, I rarely went there. I worked so many hours that the few times I borrowed books, I returned them late because it was hard to find time to walk the eight blocks there and back. And I didn’t always finish the books. I actually read much faster than I had before law school, but in a good week I’d have 10-15 minutes to read at night before I went to sleep. At the same time, I suddenly could afford to buy the books I wanted. Some new lawyers at large firms drastically increase their spending on clothes or cars or buy larger homes. I bought books.

That trend mostly continued when I started my own law firm. Though I went on my own to have more time to write, I quickly became nearly as busy as I had been when I was employed at Sonneschein (now Dentons US LLP). I enjoyed my practice more, because I liked running my own business and having a wider variety of responsibilities. How busy I was had more ups and downs, though. Which meant that while I had a little more time to read, that time was less predictable. I might have one or two weeks when I would get home from the office by 6 p.m. each night, so I read for twenty minutes or or so after I finished my evening’s fiction writing. There were other months when I more or less lived at my office. The receptionist used to joke that she was sure I had a cot under my desk. So my visits to the public library were still few and far between.

Then, last spring, after spending about two years gradually slowing down my law practice, I flipped my work life so that I now focus about three-quarters of my work week on writing and one-quarter on law, with lots of what I’d call writing adjacent activities, such as reading, in my free time. (I also now actually cook and eat at home fairly often rather than eating out or at my office, which has felt very nice.) So recently it occurred to me that I had time to go to the library. I remembered the Harold Washington as rather cold, too big, and not inviting. No doubt, all those things are still true, as it has not been significantly remodeled. Yet, as I rode up the escalator for the second time in two weeks, the smell of paper and aging book covers made me feel like I had come home. The rows of stacks once again offered worlds of possibility. I’d forgotten how much I loved meandering shelves perusing different titles. Now I can try authors I’ve never read before, because my reading isn’t limited to fifteen minutes snatches in between other work. Instead, I can read uninterrupted for an hour or more sipping a cup of Earl Grey tea or a glass of Pinot Noir.

No doubt my next visit to the library and the next after that will seem less novel and amazing, and eventually it will be routine. And that in itself is wonderful. In this country more books than any one person could read in a lifetime are available for free. And while libraries have expanded to provide access to the Internet, ebooks, and numerous other services, those rows of books remain, for me, a huge part of what magic and joy are all about.
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1.  Know your best times of day for different tasks

Our brains work differently at different times of the day. Figuring out the ideal time to perform a task can make it more enjoyable and lessen the amount of time you spend on it. Most people are more creative in the afternoon or evening. That’s because they’re a little fatigued, so their minds tend to wander, which leads to new ideas. For that reason, a first draft, whether of a business memo, a short story, or a legal brief, will flow more easily in the afternoon. In contrast, for most people, the morning is a better time for tasks that require focus and precision. (Interestingly, one study showed this was true even for individuals who reported they were not “morning people.”) So revise that first draft or proofread your near-final document in the morning.

2.  Focus on large blocks of time

Business/self-help guru Tony Robbins once said that most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten. The same thing tends to be true for a week versus a month, particularly when you’re very busy. If your days feel booked to the hilt, setting more daily or even weekly goals will just add stress. Instead, take a few minutes to consider what you can reasonably get done in a month or a year. Let’s say you want to find a new job but have no time to look. Choose one task per month to further that goal. Maybe in Month 1, spend an hour total talking with two people who already have the type of position you want; in Month 2, spend an hour researching ideal companies; in Month 3 update your resume, etc. Will you have a new job at the end of the year? Maybe, maybe not, but you’ll have made substantial progress. As another example, if you’ve wanted for years to write fiction, try setting a goal of writing just 250 words 10 times over the next three months. At the end of that time, you’ll have a 2,500 word short story (which you can then edit in the mornings).   

3.  Schedule important meetings with yourself

There’s an old saying that if you want something done, ask a busy person. If that’s you, schedule time for yourself, even if it’s only once a week or once a month, and treat it like any other important appointment. In other words, if someone wants to set something else at that time, you are not available. (No one needs to your important meeting is with yourself.) What to do in that time? Whatever you need most. Spend half an hour with a cup of tea and plan your next month’s personal goals. Take a walk, meditate, or sneak away to a coffee shop (don’t bring your tea with in that case) to read a book. But do something just for you – not for your boss, your employees, your spouse, your kids, your neighbor….

4.  Expect to be interrupted/frustrated/for things to take longer than you expected

Especially when we’re busy, there’s a tendency to schedule everything to the minute. What that really means is we’re assuming all will go smoothly. Every conference call will start and end on time, every software download will finish in the estimated time, and the car will never break down. When does life work that way? It doesn’t. So don’t start the software download when you know you’ll need your computer half an hour later. If you are stuck with back-to-back meetings, leave a half hour somewhere in the day to catch up. For a one p.m. meeting that’s a 30-minute drive away, block out the time from noon on in your calendar. (You still won’t leave until 12:15, but at least you’ll have an extra 15 minutes if the route includes a detour.) This will give you breathing room to still get most things done on time and will ease stress. When the computer crashes, you can say to yourself, “Oh, yes, I knew that could happen. Good thing I I started this at 6 p.m. and I can go grab dinner while it reboots.”

5.  Make your own rules

For a short time, I tried the OHIO system – Only Handle It Once. It sounded great – why waste time, for instance, looking at each e-mail two-three times in a day. On a slow day, responding to each e-mail as it came in saved time and lowered stress. But if I had a day that started with 30 emails and 50 more came in later, it was a different story. If the 1st required me to complete a half hour task in order to respond but wasn’t urgent and the 25th needed an immediate answer that would take five minutes, OHIO was a terrible idea. Not only would I give poor service to the client who sent No. 25, I’d feel extremely stressed while I spent half an hour on a non-urgent task without knowing what those other twenty-four emails required. Someone in another kind of business, though, might find OHIO useful in most circumstances. This shows that, with any rule or idea, including the suggestions above, it’s important to see how it fits your work habits and your life. And, as important, see how you feel as you go through your day. If it works, great. If not, you can make adjustments.

What’s helped you both relax and be productive?

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The Awakening for Kindle: http://amzn.to/pFCcN6

For Nook: 

For Kobo: 

The post 5 Ways to Be More Productive — And More Relaxed — In The New Year appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

(1) Women in Combat: In the Hunger Games, each combatant (known as a tribute) competes to become the sole survivor. The arena for the games changes from year to year and even within each game. A combatant might face mountains, drought, fire, floods, or all of the above. Author Suzanne Collins does an excellent job of showing how each challenge requires different skills and traits. In one scenario, being a fast swimmer is the most important skill, and brute strength provides little or no advantage. In some parts of the game, a young, small tribute outwits and outmaneuvers larger, stronger and tougher opponents because she’s stealthy and quick and can swing from treetop to treetop without being noticed. Knowing what plants can be eaten and having the skill to distinguish between ones that are medicinal and ones that are poisonous also can be vital — another skill that has nothing to do with strength or size. While The Hunger Games and its sequels are fiction, they raise good questions about what makes someone able to handle combat situations or survive in hostile territory. That seems appropriate at a time when the U.S. is inching toward allowing women in combat positions for the first time.

(2) The Importance of Appearances: Before they compete, tributes undergo a rigorous remake of their images, and those images are vital in getting sponsors. Sponsors are people with money who send tributes things they need to survive during the Games. The boy tributes have style consultants just as the girls do. But the girls are subjected to more intense treatments that generally do nothing to help them in combat. While she’s being put through hours of waxing, eyebrow tweezing and skin polishing, Katniss reflects on how her male counterpart, Peeta, has this same time free. He can rest or eat during those hours to build his strength, train longer to hone his skills, or schmooze with potential sponsors. This echoes U.S. culture, though obviously the books present this in a larger and more dramatic way. But studies show that women who wear make up are viewed as more professional than those who don’t, leaving women who choose not to use cosmetics at a disadvantage. Then there’s wardrobe. For men, the standard business attire is a neutral suit and tie or, for business casual, a long-sleeve shirt and khaki pants. There is no neutral for women. A skirt suit can be too girly, a pants suit too manly, a gray outfit too boring, a fuschia blouse too frivolous. (Think of the 2008 primaries — no one commented on John McCain’s or Barack Obama’s pants suits.) My routine is pretty basic, and I still spend about 20 minutes every morning on hair, make up and clothing choices, 20 minutes my male colleagues don’t need to spend. That’s over 120 hours a year, the equivalent of 2-3 work weeks. I could take a vacation, earn another 3/4 of a month’s pay, or finish rewrites on my current novel in that time. Not to mention what cosmetics cost. I spend an average $30 a month on cosmetics and skincare. That’s $360 a year, which would buy a plane ticket for that vacation.

(3) Likeability: Much of the preparation of Katniss for the Hunger Games involves making her likeable so she can attract sponsors. Katniss is fierce, stubborn, smart, strong and resourceful. All great qualities for survival, and if she were a boy, particularly a large boy, those qualities would get her sponsors. Everyone likes to bet on a winner. As a girl, though, she needs to project vulnerability, niceness (even to the people who are orchestrating a game whose aim is to kill children), and loveability, regardless whether the boys she competes against project those qualities or whether those qualities in themselves will help her win. This reflects many real women’s experiences. Women are generally raised to place a premium on relationships, being nice, and being liked. Indeed, many women report being told by strangers on the street to smile if they look too serious or stern, something I suspect never happens to men. Similarly, when men are demanding bosses, take hardline positions, or grab the spotlight in meetings, these qualities are seen as signs of strength and leadership. Women who exhibit these behaviors are more often seen as too aggressive, and aggression is almost always viewed negatively in women. At the same time, women are instructed that to get ahead, they must adopt male body language (see, for example,
10 Common Body Language Traps for Women in the Workplace) or typically male approaches to business to succeed (see Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office).

The reality is, as in The Hunger Games, different qualities, strategies and skills work for different people at different times. There is no one “right” way to behave in every situation. But because the standard for so long has been based on how men behave, women still struggle either to show how they match the male model or why their approach is just as effective. (For a good book about women, men and leadership, check out Closing the Leadership Gap by Marie C. Wilson.)

As a writer, I aim for my work to entertain and intrigue first. Then I hope that after readers close the book, questions and ideas linger about the conflicts the characters faced and how they reflect the real world. I admire the way Suzanne Collins manages that throughout the Hunger Games books without slowing the story for a second.

What are you favorite thrillers, and how do they reflect the larger world around us?

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The Awakening for Kindle: http://amzn.to/pFCcN6

For Nook:  

For Kobo:

Visit Lisa’s website:  www.lisalilly.com

The post The Military, Make Up, and Rereading Katniss (Favorite Books Post No. 1) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

Then a wonderful thing happened. I received a flyer from Blue Cross. With all the publicity, good and bad, over the government website, it hadn’t occurred to me (and maybe it hasn’t to many people) that I didn’t need the website. As of 1/1/2014, private insurers can’t turn down individual applicants, so why not just apply directly? 

I reached a salesperson within seconds who provided lots of information. Plans are categorized under the AFA/Obamacare as Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum. The main differences are the co-pays and premiums. With a Platinum plan, 100% of covered expenses are paid by the insurer once you hit your deductible. With a Bronze plan, only 60% are paid by the insurer. Platinum has the highest premiums. Different deductibles, out-of-pocket maximum payments, and plan types (such as HMO, PPO) are available for each category. Also, different networks are available. Based on the network that includes my doctor and the hospital where she has admitting privileges, the Blue Cross salesperson suggested five plans. I chose three with high deductibles to keep premiums down. He emailed me a quote within 10 minutes. At the Blue Cross website, I compared them feature-to-feature.

The next day, I called and applied. No past medical information needed, just age, gender, non-smoking, and where I live. (Chicago – I love an excuse to include a photo of Chicago. This is from the shared deck at my condo building.) Pre-Obamacare, it took hours to apply for an individual health insurance policy because it required a detailed health questionnaire and interview. So half an hour on the phone for this application seemed awesome to me, and it would have been quicker if I’d done it on line myself. I should receive confirmation within 7-10 days and will be insured starting 1/1/2014. I may throw a party.

I don’t qualify for federal subsidies for premiums, but I could have applied for them if I needed to through Blue Cross. So it appears the only reason to use the government website is to comparison shop. But that can be done the old-fashioned way, by directly contacting different insurers. Once you’re familiar with the plans and deductibles based on the first company you contact, you can then get quotes for similar plans from other insurers. As a guide, I’ve listed the steps I took below, with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois references.

(1) Explore basics about the Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum plans:

http://www.bcbsil.com/health-insurance-shopping-guide/compare-health-insurance-plans

(2) Check whether your doctor or doctors and hospitals are in the networks the insurer offers: http://provider.bcbs.com/

(3) Call or use website for quotes and to compare plans: 1-866-514-8044 or https://retailweb.hcsc.net/retailshoppingcart/IL/census?plantype=majormedical

(4) Apply by phone or website: 1-866-514-8044 or https://retailweb.hcsc.net/retailshoppingcart/IL/census?plantype=majormedical

Rinse and repeat for other health insurers.

I didn’t check other insurers because I’ve had the Blue Cross PPO before and that’s the coverage I wanted. But here are a couple other sites:

http://www.goldenrule.com/health-insurance/ (United Healthcare/Golden Rule)
https://www.humana.com/individual-and-family/products-and-services/medical-plans/ (Humana)

12/5/2013

An addendum because I’m excited — I just received my Blue Cross card in the mail! (You can tell I’m very excited because I rarely use exclamation points, and I was tempted to include two.) I officially have an individual health insurance policy effective 1/1/14. My account on healthcare.gov still says “in progress,” so I’m glad I took matters into my own hands. I have friends who are self-employed in Illinois who applied later than I did through the site. They’ve obtained coverage options, then bought coverage through the exchange. So I suspect I’m caught in some sort of technology loop. There’s a Remove button that I will probably use to try to take myself out of the system. But I’m a little curious to see if it’ll stay in the loop forever. Votes on how long I should wait before alleviating healthcare.gov of the burden of my unending application?

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The Awakening for Kindle: http://amzn.to/pFCcN6

For Nook: 

Visit her website:  www.lisalilly.com

The post In Which I Realize I Don’t Need To Use The Health Insurance Marketplace (Post No. 6 of Adventures in Health Insurance) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

I’ve tried a few times to create an account on the website (link below), which is the first step on the journey to health insurance under Obamacare. On my past 4-5 tries, the system hung up, and I eventually gave up. This time I got through and created an account. I then applied for coverage. At least I think I did. It took a little patience:

Like a lot of government and private company websites, the exchange asks a second or third time for information already provided. The system also has to verify the applicant’s identity even after a name and address are filled in, maybe due to duplicate names out there. (I know of at least one other Lisa Lilly who is also an attorney; I keep meaning to call her and say hi.) I was asked a few questions about myself, then was rejected as unverified and given new questions. I suspect the issue was that when asked what previous city I’d lived in, I didn’t check Chicago. I live in Chicago now, and my past 2 addresses were Chicago addresses. I read the question as asking what city I’d lived in before living in Chicago. Apparently, the question actually meant what city did I live in when I resided at my previous address. On my second try, I answered Chicago and the system believed I am me and allowed me to move to the next screen.

In addition to a few duplicative and sometimes irrelevant questions (did the government really need to ask me about my previous addresses and my home equity credit line when I’d already provided my social security number?), the process is slowed by processing time after each screen. I recommend multi-tasking, or at least listening to some good music while you’re going through it.

All in all, it took about 45 minutes, plus another 10 because I decided to review my info before submitting an application. I thought all my information would appear on one screen or a PDF for review. But, no, reviewing requires going through every single screen again complete with wait time. After reaching the end again and submitting, I got a message that my application was in progress but no information on what happens next. I’d been hoping to check some price quotes, but either I zipped past that or there’s no chance to do it until the application is done.

Despite it taking some time, it’s a much easier process than applying for an individual policy on the private market. There are no questions about past medical history, past health insurance policies, or past employment.

I did not fill out the questions to determine if I could get assistance making health insurance premium payments. My income from writing and law has been reasonably good during the time I’ve been self-employed, and I have no dependents. From what I’ve read, I would not qualify for financial help, so I didn’t see any reason to go through the process.

In a day or two, I’ll check the website again for the status of my application.  Once again, stay tuned if you’d like to read about the next steps.

Finally, here is the link for the Illinois health insurance exchange if you are looking to buy coverage:  https://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace/individual/#state=illinois  (If you’re in another state, you can still use this link. Just choose your own state from the drop down menu.)

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The Awakening for Kindle: 

The post In Which I Probably Applied For Health Insurance (Post No. 5 of Adventures in Health Insurance) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

First, I needed to find the exchange. I googled “Illinois Get Covered” because I’d heard on the radio that was the website to check.  That got me to some links for sites with overall information about the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare, but I couldn’t find a link to the actual exchange to see what type of coverage is available.  (Note to Illinois — you might want to make that more obvious.)  So I Googled Illinois Health Insurance Exchange and eventually found my way to this link:  https://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace/individual/#state=illinois

You can choose your state on this homepage from a drop down menu, so this should work no matter what state you’re in.  The homepages is Illinois, so I clicked Apply Now.  I got a screen telling me it was very busy now and to please wait for a log in page. I waited. Then I left and ate breakfast, came back, and found the log in screen.

I had to create an ID based on an email address. So, first thing to know is that you’ll need an email address, at least to sign up on line. I used my law firm email and created a password. I reached a screen that said I needed to answer three security questions to finish setting up the account. I assume that’s to be sure it’s me next time I sign in, or in case I lose my password. Unfortunately, the security questions were blank, and nothing showed up in the drop down menus for each question. I clicked Live Chat and got a note thanking me for contacting Live Chat and asking me to wait for someone. I waited for a while, then needed to go to my office, so I closed the window.

I repeated the above process this afternoon (it did not remember my ID or password) and got stuck at the same place. It’s been half an hour now that I’ve been waiting for someone from Live Chat. I tried sending a message explaining the issue but nothing happened.

Since the deadline to buy insurance on the exchange isn’t until mid-December, I think that’s enough for today. I’ll try again later in the week.

Stay tuned.

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The Awakening for Kindle: 

The post First Day Trying To Get On The Health Insurance Exchange (Post No. 4 of Adventures in Health Insurance) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

Questions I still have:  The premium estimate for me is about $50 less per month than I pay now, but there’s no way to compare apples to apples. Now, both my deductible and out of pocket limit are $5,000. So if I am under the deductible, as I am this year and was the first year I had the plan, the Silver plan would be far more affordable for me. If I’m over the deductible, my current plan might be a better. I’m also unclear on differences in the quality and breadth of the networks offered, the deductibles, and the co-pays.

Whether I have good coverage now depends on your perspective. I’m in the Blue Cross PPO. Nothing, even prescriptions, is paid for until I hit the $5,000, which I obviously aspire each year not to reach. The plan thrills me, having faced no coverage at all. A friend who has never been self-employed, though (and who is against any type of universal health insurance) said to me, “That’s terrible. Can’t your firm get you better coverage?” Me: “I am the firm. And according to the health insurance companies, I’m not insurable.” Friend: “But you’re healthy. Can’t your doctor write them a letter?” But that’s not how it works – see my last post: Once I Became Self-Employed

Happily, it looks like I misunderstood a previous communication from ICHIP. While my particular plan may go away, I can be migrated to a similar one that might cost me slightly more. Still, I will likely purchase through the exchange, as it seems to me that my plan won’t continue in the long run if the exchanges work well.

Links that may be helpful:

http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

http://www.bcbsil.com/health-care-reform/health-care-reform-faq

http://www.chip.state.il.us/aca-survey-faq.html

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The Awakening for Kindle: 

The post Virtual Camping Out in Line for the Health Insurance Exchange (Post No. 3 of Adventures in Health Insurance) appeared first on Lisa Lilly.

I had a blood clot.  The good news was it was superficial – meaning in a surface vein, not one that led to the heart or lungs.  Medline Plus says this condition is “usually a short-term condition that does not cause complications. Symptoms generally go away in 1 to 2 weeks….”  So, basically, it’s not a blood clot that will kill you but, as I learned a year later, it will keep you from getting health insurance.  My treatment was similar to a muscle strain.  Rest, elevate, ice.  My doctor had me take a baby aspirin a day and told me not take birth control pills just to be on the safe side, but said I didn’t need to worry about it.  That lots of people get these and never even know it.  Also that everyone should get up and walk around to help prevent clots rather than staying in one position for long periods.

I started my law practice as planned.  Just over a year later, I applied to Blue Cross for an individual policy, hoping that, given that they had my records and knew my health, they would just extend my current coverage.  That’s not how it works.  I filled out a long form.  It covered the last 5 years in depth, but asked about my medical history for my entire life.  It did not ask about my general health habits, other than not smoking.  There was nowhere to list that I walked 10 miles a week, did yoga 3 times a week, and practiced meditation.  I’m sure I went into more detail than many people would about my medical history, including my eye surgery at the age of 4.  If I’d omitted anything, even by mistake, I knew I could find myself without coverage down the road right when I needed it.  For instance, let’s say I forgot about the eye surgery, then three years later I was hit by a car and needed surgery on my leg.  If the insurer found out I’d omitted the eye surgery and could show that was material — meaning the insurer would have denied coverage if it had known — it might then refund all the premiums I’d paid and leave me without health insurance.  I could then be facing over $100,000 in hospital bills with no health insurance.  (Hospital bills can easily run above $100,000 when a pedestrian is hit by a car.)

How much I included on the form, or in the follow up telephone interview, turned out not to matter.  The insurer wrote a letter saying it was rejecting me because of the blood clot without looking at anything else.  I’d just met a health insurance broker at a networking event who’d warned me that 40% of people get turned down when they apply for individual coverage.  I called him, and he helped me through the process for another major carrier.  That application was just as involved, plus I had to disclose that I’d been turned down for health insurance.  I was turned down again.

Both carriers sent me information on the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Program.  ICHIP had two programs I qualified for, both for people who had no group coverage available to them.  One was for people who’d kept their COBRA coverage the entire 18 months and wanted to continue insurance.  That had no waiting period and picked up as soon as my COBRA ended so long as I filled out all the correct forms.  The second option covered those who’d been turned down for individual coverage.  That program often had a waiting list, then excluded pre-existing conditions for a set time, something like six months.  I opted for the first plan.  The people administering it were very helpful and always available by phone when I called.  And I got the Blue Cross PPO. 

My plan has a $5,000 deductible and costs around $300/month (based on being a 47 year old female non-smoker).  Nothing is covered under the $5,000, so I was a bit shocked when I discovered my allergy nasal spray was over $100 per month.  I’m very fond of breathing, though, and the less expensive medications I tried didn’t work, so I paid it.  I could and probably should have gotten a lower deductible, but I’d been very healthy, so I figured it was worth the risk.  I hit my deductible one year, when I had to have surgery (see  below). 

One thing worried me — I was required to pay my premium by certified, not personal, check.  And all over the premium notice it said if I missed the premium, my insurance would be gone and I could never reinstate it.  Before my surgery, I thought, what if I have a tough recovery and can’t get to the bank to get a certified check?  So I prepared a financial power of attorney to be sure someone could do it for me.  I also didn’t know what I’d do if needed to move out of state, as ICHIP is only for Illinois residents.  Fortunately, I love Chicago.

Other than that, I’ve been happy.  I got to keep my doctors.  I’ve learned a lot about healthcare pricing.  That’s led me to think that a co-pay based on a percentage of the actual charge might be a good thing, as otherwise the co-pays are completely disconnected from the amount of the bill.  On the other hand, I also learned the actual bill has little to do with reality, so long as you are insured.  My surgical bill and emergency room bills were something like 3 times the PPO rates.  So even before I hit the deductible, the insurance was valuable, as I still paid only the PPO rates.  If I’d been uninsured, I would have been liable for the whole amount.

Now my ICHIP program is going away because the Health Insurance Exchange is supposed to make it unnecessary.  According to the state, this should mean my premium will be cheaper because the ICHIP premium is always set at 150% of what the rate would otherwise be.  I’m relieved that, unless Congress makes changes, health insurers can’t deny me coverage.  I’m also happy I’ll have the option to cover employees, if I hire any again, through the exchange.  (I’ve had a few different part-time employees over my five years in practice.)  And, presumably, if someday I want to leave Illinois, I’ll still be able to get coverage.

I’m concerned, though, that Congress will succeed in getting rid of the insurance exchanges, and I will then be stuck with no ICHIP and no coverage.  I’m also concerned about whether I’ll be able to keep the Blue Cross PPO.  I heard that premiums will vary with network size.  So the cheapest plans will have smaller networks; the Cadillac plans will have wide networks. 

On 10/1, I will go on the exchange and see what I can see.  Even before I read articles raising potential technology issues, it seemed unlikely to me it would all be working on Day 1.  I figured that for the same reason I try not to buy a new Microsoft version of anything.  The ones I’ve bought have always had bugs.  (It was a nightmare when I bought a computer with Windows Vista when it first came out.  I used to walk around the office saying “I hate Bill Gates” over and over.  But I digress.)  I don’t expect the government will do better than Bill Gates.  On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised every time I dealt with the ICHIP people.  So I’m crossing my fingers they are in charge.

I will let you know how it goes.

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