This picture of Madyson perfectly displays my feelings about posting today, BLAH! I think we all have a little cold or something of the like, the Campbell house is down and out. I’m sure I’ll feel better about things after a nap….I love Sunday naps (:
Madyson was 7 months old in this photo. Not the most beautifully executed image with her hand looking a little crooked, but look at that expression! I’ve always laughed when I come across this image, hope you do too.
Madyson’s cousins Ally and Cooper came for a quick visit today while their new carpet was getting installed in their house. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures with Madyson because she was already napping, but I’ll try next time for sure. I’ve photographed these two since they were born and it’s crazy what beautiful little people they have turned into.
As tired as you might think I would be of reading the same books over and over every night, it’s actually so fun because Madyson finishes the sentences in certain books. No, she’s not reading yet but she certainly has her favorite books memorized! She’s particularly good a finishing the sentences in Lullaby Little One and Raindrop Plop. There aren’t many words in Good night Gorilla, but we love that one too. I took these a few weeks ago one morning and forgot about them until I stumbled upon them today….sure am glad I did, enjoy!
Oh by the way, if you have a child under the age of 5 and you live in Hamilton county Tennessee (there might be other communities participating), you are eligible for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. From birth until age 5, your child will receive a book a month, that’s 60 books for free! Visit their website to see if your community is included in this program http://www.imaginationlibrary.com/.
Meet sweet Ashlynn. She’s only a week old in these photos and already her Mommy’s world and her Daddy’s main girl. Kara and Scott are amazing parents already being very attentive to their daughter. They prepared the most precious nursery for Ashlynn and she seems to be pretty comfy in it! Thanks for allowing me into your home while Ashlynn was so young. I can’t wait for our next session to see how much she’s grown! Hopefully there will be more sleep involved by then too (:
Sweet nursery details….
Baby burrito.
Can you feel the love?!
This quite possibly might be the least interesting thing to write about on a photography blog, but if it helps one person then I’ll be super happy I wrote it! After a recent experience with a doctor’s office over disputing a bill, I’m inspired to write just a few basics about insurance and how it relates to your medical bills. There’s no way for me to know exactly what your insurance policy says, but most of this is general knowledge of the people filing your medical claims (doctor’s office) and processing your medical claims (insurance). I’m not promoting insurance in this post at all, in fact I’m promoting consumer awareness of the policy that insures them. This is how heathcare works in this country so we deal with it as best we can!
A little background on why I possess this amazingly interesting information….while in college, I worked as a customer service representative for a major southeastern insurance company for almost 4 years. Regardless of what you might think of insurance companies, this one was a great organization to work for. Sure there are certain obstacles in a corporate environment, but the knowledge and experience I received from that job will serve me well for the rest of my life. I know there may be some CSR’s out there reading this and saying how could you like doing that job?! Well some days were better than others, but I had a great department of girls (and a few guys) that made the days go by quickly. Because I spent so much time with those fabulous people in a close-quarters calling center, I’m still in close contact with many of them. I’ve got some awesome success stories, some sad stories and others that would make me mad to tell them. Marchelle and Jamie you feel me?!?
Ok, on to the pertinent information.
#1 Insurance companies are typically going to pay your medical claims. They do not just deny them for fun (hopefully). Although they make their money by their customer’s premiums and hopefully those customers not getting sick, on a daily basis they are paying out money on your claims. If they are not paying money on a specific claim, just call them and check….the money/claim filed by the provider might have applied to your deductible or something of the like.
To break up the monotony of this post, take a look at this cute lil pup (:
#2 There’s no such thing, in my opinion, as “good insurance” or “bad insurance”. There may be good or bad insurance companies, but that’s a different story all together. Now this might get certain people all hot and bothered, but if your insurance stinks it’s not the insurance company’s fault. It’s probably because you aren’t paying enough to get the coverage to meet your expectations, your employer isn’t or can’t pay enough to get better coverage, OR the claims are being denied for various reasons (which I will touch on later). If you have a policy that pays 100% after a tiny little copay for any service, that’s pretty awesome to me! But I bet you or your employer are paying a boatload of money for a policy like that. If you have an employer that pays for a plan like that, you better count your lucky starts because insurance is super expensive. Just to give you an idea, to insure a family of 4, an employer may pay in upwards of $800-$1200 PER FAMILY for a policy like this. Maybe more actually. Even though you pay your little bi-weekly insurance payment, that’s only a tiny bit of the cost.
Helpful tip:If you are seeking out better coverage on your own, go ahead and shop around. Get several quotes from at least 3 different companies to see what it will cost you. Would you like to pay more in premiums on the front end so that you could have less money due on your medical bills? Then you need a copay play or a lower deductible plan….which of course is going to cost you. I did a quote on Blue Cross website recently and for a copay plan, $25 office visit/well visit, $10/25/45 prescription plan, $500 deductible for hospital/surgery, NO maternity was over $600 for a family of 3. OR would you be ok with a higher deductible heath plan where you are more in control (and responsible) for money on the front end. The plan might look like this: $2500 family deductible then 100% (office visits, prescriptions, well visits, NO maternity). Basically when any claims come in at the first of the year, the total allowable amount will apply to your deductible. This also includes your prescriptions. So if you have a lot of prescriptions you will likely meet that $2500 fairly quickly. After your deductible is met then everything will be paid at 100% (if that’s what your plan reads,,,,sometimes it’s 80% and then you would still owe the 20% remainder. Again, it’s all depends on how much you want to pay in your premium. If you have a high deductible health plan you may be eligible for a Heath Savings Account. This is a tax-free account that you put money in at the beginning of the year and spend that money for your copays and deductible payments (dr’s visits, prescriptions, etc).
#3 Just because a doctor sends you a bill doesn’t mean that you should mail a check right then.Wait until you receive your EOB (Explanation of Benefits) from your insurance company. This is a statement (NOT A BILL) showing how they paid your claim. Your doctor’s office also gets their version of a provider EOB with a big old fat check. The provider’s EOB also tells them your patient liability (the amount you owe). If you already paid your copay at the time of your visit then likely you don’t owe any more money.
Helpful example: I had a situation recently that went like this…..I paid my copay of $25 at my doctor’s office before the visit as usual. My doctor didn’t bill an office visit, he just billed for an antibiotic injection and sent me on my merry way. Once the claim was processed by my insurance company, it only showed that I owed $8.06. So what happened? My doctor billed me for an additional $8.06. Me being the smart consumer that I am, I checked my EOB statement from that visit and sure enough I only owed the $8.06. This means that the doctor’s office owes me $25-8.06=$16.94. They did the right thing by taking my copy at the start of my visit, but somehow it didn’t translate to the billing office later on that I really overpaid for that visit. The moral? Make sure you check your EOB.
I think I’ll stop so this doesn’t get any longer! If anyone is reading this and you have a problem with some medical bills and you just don’t understand, feel free to email or call I’ll help if I can! (I may regret that statement later lol). No really, I’m here if anyone needs me. I really like sharing this information. I hope it was helpful.
Let’s end this on the perfect note….with another image of Ruby, the sweetest pug puppy ever. I’m doggy-sitting today for her mommy Olivia and you can’t come to Aunt Meg’s house without getting a quick puppy photo-sesh (:
We had a wonderful show yesterday thanks to the amazing staff at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. They really went all out for this event….from the advertising and decorations, to even the staff walking around asking if we needed water or anything of the sort. Also it was a treat to see several photographer friends visiting the show and meeting some new ones participating in it as well! The booths looked sensational, especially Waterfire Images who received an honorable mention for the best booth. I am not sure who won first place, but Nathan sure did a heck of a job!
Thanks to all the fabulous brides that visited our booth. You guys are serious about booking advanced wedding dates….I love an advanced planning bride! Also, thanks for signing up for the engagement session drawing. We will announce that later this week and post the winner on the blog.
I don’t think I shared these two images from my original post about our Cheryl Muhr session in Austin, TX, but love them so much I needed to post more! Even as photographers that take A LOT of pictures of their family and occasionally themselves, it’s super important to us to have at least one to two sessions per year with a professional photographer. I know there’s lots of people out there that really believe they can pick up their DSLR and replace a professional photographer for all their major life events. Although you have an awesome camera, it’s not the equipment that’s going to take the great picture….it’s the operator behind the lens. Would you hire just anyone to fix the breaks on your car? No silly! You would take it to a trained professional! Choose a professional photographer that’s experienced and spend the money to get quality photos of you and your family (or your wedding for that matter!). Thanks so all my fabulous clients that value photography as a whole and my work as well, we love you.
Speaking of valuing work, I wanna run to Austin right now and kiss Cheryl again for these photos. I watched my slideshow and cried again this morning,,,4 months after she first posted them!
Madyson loves being outside just like her Mommy and Daddy. Yesterday, the first day this year where it was sunny and not so cold we ran outside after her nap. You would have thought we were at Disneyland she was so excited! We had a little fun with the “acERns” as she calls them. Then we ran around the front yard for a while until it was time to come in. Hopefully it will continue to warm up soon so we can have more playdates outside!
I told you, Disneyland excitement on display!
In addition to jumping, we like to kick really high!
I hope you are getting your fill of children and sweet little baby portraits because I’ve got several more to catch up on! Although we are primarily wedding photographers, I LOVE spending the time with precious babies, energy-filled children and their adoring parents. Speaking of energy filled children, these are the Fillauer boys, Andrew and Ryan. I enjoyed chasing them around the park on a sunny afternoon, although I don’t know if it was entertaining their Mom! Jennifer I think you were nervous to see how they would turn out, I remember you saying, “I don’t know how you will come up with a single one, they move too much!” Well friend, you’re right, they do move a lot. But that’s what little boys are best at!
Thanks so much for trusting me and I would be happy to break sweat for those boys again sometime soon. Hopefully sooner than later now that their new little brother Ben has arrived!
Here’s a few favorites from the day….
Yes, he’s running from me….
Caught him (:
I love this shot of Andrew….it’s so little-boyish.
