In the short time I’ve been writing here on Blogging Away Debt I’ve let everyone take a look at what’s been going on in our hectic lives over the last few years. More recently, we’ve faced medical bills increasing and tax problems. Well, I’ve got an update on both of those things for you today.
Chatting With a Tax Pro
As I mentioned in a recent blog post, we wound up owing quite a bit of money at tax time. I couldn’t figure out why. As discussed in the comments, I’ve made estimated payments throughout the year, etc. The problem, as it turned out, was because of my healthcare marketplace coverage that I had early last year.
The coverage lasted from January through June and covered me and my daughter. My husband didn’t get his job or insurance until April and we held on to my marketplace coverage for an additional two months just in case the new job wasn’t working out (he was hired on as a six-month temp at first).
Doing so put me in hot water when it came to filing taxes for a couple of reasons. First, any time the household income changed, I needed to update it in the marketplace and they’d adjust my coverage. So, when my husband took the job in April, I should have immediately gone in and made those adjustments. I failed to do so.
On top of that, we wound up making too much as a household to qualify for the kind of discount I was getting through the marketplace. So, I had to pay all of the monthly premiums in full (over $1,200 monthly). This was the first time I’d ever used the marketplace, so this has been a huge learning experience. Thankfully, we won’t be in this situation again this year, but with fees, etc. it really did add up!
Now that we have that nailed down, however, I can breathe a little bit and we can start paying off that debt.
Upcoming Medical Bills
A number of people close to me (and a number of you all) suggested that I go back to the doctor and get to the bottom of what’s going on, especially where my heart arrhythmia is concerned. I scheduled an appointment last week to get the ball rolling on that. We adjusted my blood pressure medication again, which seems to be helping with the higher readings I’ve been having.
The doctor also suggested that we do a 48-hour heart monitor test. I’ll be going to the Heart & Vascular Institute to have the monitor installed and then return in two days to have it removed. Hopefully they will catch an arrhythmia or episode during that time so that we can figure out what’s going on.
If they don’t catch anything, the doctor suggested I consider some sort of treatment for anxiety. While I don’t feel like my anxiety is all that bad, I know that stress can be a killer – and I have plenty of it.
There is no telling how much this will cost. Medical bills for last week’s visit will be here soon, I’m sure. We will likely hit our deductible soon though and then everything after that is easy peasy. That said, I’m really just ready to figure out what’s going on and to FEEL WELL. Here’s to hoping!
Amanda Blankenship is the Director of Social Media for District Media. In addition to her duties handling everything social media, she frequently writes for a handful of blogs and loves to share her own personal finance story with others. When she isn’t typing away at her desk, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, husband, and dog. During her free time, you’re likely to find her with her nose in a book, hiking, or playing RPG video games.
I have PVCs (premature ventricular contractions – kind of like skipping a beat) and wore a heart monitor for two weeks. Mine wasn’t very often so maybe that is why I wore it longer…do you think 48 hours is long enough?
Thanks for brining this up! I was questioning if it would be long enough myself. I do have some kind of heart skipping, followed by heart racing a couple times a week now. I’ll mention this when I go to the heart & vascular clinic. I got the appointment for the monitor to be fit in two weeks.