Faggots on the Third Floor

One week down

It's been a week since I left orientation and went to "the floor." Yesterday I got my desk, which is only temporary until they find someplace to put my entire unit. Oh, and the desk moving thing is within units, not the whole company. They just switch your neighbors around within your own team, so you know everyone. That's okay, I guess. I mean, my team consists of only six people (including me) so it's lot like they can move me too much. Well, once they find someplace where all six of us will fit, that is.

So, the verdict...

I love it. I really love it. I know that sounds completely bizarre, but I REALLY like what I am doing. Everything about it. Okay, so some outside emails would be nice. But everyone is very nice and really, everyone seems to love it. We might all be under the imperius curse, of course. Anything is a possibility.

The working conditions are fair (fair as in just, not between good and poor), the pay is decent (and with overtime even better), the facilities are clean and comfortable, and no one looks over anyone's shoulder.

So, what am I doing? Something that I was custom made for.

This is a company that home delivers medical supplies, mostly for diabetes, but also incontinence, respiratory, and ostomy. Oh, and a full service pharmacy. And no, it's NOT Liberty Medical, but it's the same idea, without Wilford Brimley (how the HELL are they keeping that man alive?). It's actually almost as big as Liberty, but without has been celebrity endorsements and TV ads. Word of mouth only.

Now, it's not that I'm all jazzed up on diabetic supplies or anything, far from it.

But... I get to pay their medical bills for them. I love this! This is specifically what they hired me for, and my entire day is calling people to determine if they can pay their own bills. If not, I pay them. My "budget" is unlimited. If they meet the income guidelines (185% of poverty level), and they don't have in network secondary insurance, then I pay their bills for them. Write off any existing balance, and provide whatever they need in the future at no cost to them. Whatever the insurance pays, we accept, and eat the rest. Sure, the company is still making money on most of the clients, but not as much as they would if they charged them their coinsurance and deductibles (we even waive their deductible for them).

After brief training, I went "full time"on the waivers on Tuesday. Since then... I've written off about $20,000 in existing balances, and made the supplies affordable to about 80 people. Some quietly thank me, some burst into tears over the phone. I cried with my first crier. It was for her husband, on an insulin pump. It was costing them about $300 a month after their insurance coverage (Medicare, 80%), and they had an existing balance of a little over a thousand. The woman broke down and told me I saved her husband's life. Whoa. Now THAT was something to remember and appreciate.

I love it. I really do. Every person I call is thankful, even the ones I have to deny (it happens, it sucks). They are mostly elderly people, and it's depressing how little they have to live. Married couples, living on a $600 social security check. It breaks my heart when people tell me that all they can afford for groceries is $40 a month, and they only get $10 in food stamps. I wish I could pay ALL their bills for them.

Having had medical bills drastically alter our lives, I really appreciate what I'm doing. It's personal, and I love it. I hope I keep loving it, I can't imagine it'll change. And even though I haven't read a single blog in a week, AJ keeps me up on the important stuff. But I don't even miss the internet. I don't even notice what time it is anymore. I grudgingly go to lunch at 3:30 (mandatory half hour, I'd skip it if I could), and when five rolls around, I don't even blink. Eventually I'll notice that the night crew is coming in (about 5:30-5:45) and I'll pack up and leave for the day, in time to get home just before AJ and Charlie do.

It's different than anything I've ever done. Very different. But, besides teaching, I think this is the first job I've ever really put my heart into. And in a different way completely. It's tangible, it matters now, not thirty years from now. I can hear the relief in their voices, feel the weight off their shoulders.

My job is awesome.

Labels: The Firm

posted by Estelle @ 6/07/2007 08:18:00 PM