BCRC Telethon & Health Insurance Drama

In case you missed it on social media, the Breast Cancer Resource Center held a '90s-themed telethon in lieu of Art Bra this year.  The volunteers taking donation calls had retro handsets plugged into their cell phones.  Nine of the models, myself included, competed in a '90s celebrity red carpet challenge.  Here's my take on Reese Witherspoon at the premiere of Cruel Intentions.

Was it a bohemian trend to not iron your clothes?  Sorry Reese, but I totally wore it better.

The telethon raised over $230k, including a massive donation from my parents.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  

It's never too late to make a donation and support the incredible patient navigators who provide free support to breast cancer patients in Austin.  I still keep in touch with mine and recently asked her for advice on health insurance plans.  United Healthcare tried to quadruple our small business health insurance costs, claiming that one of us was high-risk.  (Who me?  High-risk?  No, you must have the wrong Jami.  I'm the picture of health.  I eat vegetables for every meal!)  I started looking into HMO plans and realized that I would lose all of my carefully selected physicians and that many services wouldn't be covered.  Even with my premium insurance plan, I currently pay $386 every month for my Lupron shot.  (This is why I support BCRC, because cancer affects every aspect of a patient's life, including their finances.)  I was considering moving to Canada or applying for a job at HEB (preferably in the cheese department), but Jeff hired a lawyer who met with a higher-up at United Healthcare, and suddenly they were "running the numbers again" and eventually came up with something more reasonable.  Good thing I could afford a fancy lawyer.  Not everyone is so lucky.  Granted, I do cost my health insurance company a fortune (reconstructive surgeries, trips to the ER, CT scans, MRIs, bone density scans, physical therapy, and that's just in the last few months).  But I've been paying for health insurance my entire adult life so I would be covered in the event that something terrible happened (say a cancer diagnosis).  That's kind of the point.

Anyway, crisis resolved.  We still have our premium health insurance for when everyone returns to school next week and there's another COVID spike.  The fun never stops!