I am thrilled to be able to tell you that Arden will be receiving the remainder of her needed dental care soon and in the hospital under the care of an anesthesiologist.  Fantastic news!  

I want to thank everyone who tried so hard to help us with our recent insurance woes.  Our congressman’s office for contacting United Health Care on our behalf, Arden’s pediatrician for reaching out to people he knew in the industry, and the doctors who wrote letters begging UHC to help.  Sadly, none of these efforts ended up making the difference.

In the end United Health Care didn’t budge... Arden will be receiving the care she needs because Kelly’s employer stepped up in a huge way.  Her company, Novartis, agreed to pay for Arden’s care.  We are very grateful to Novartis and the people that work there for making such a kind and noble gesture!  

When Novartis found out about Arden’s situation they contacted UHC and told them that they would sign off on an exception for Arden’s procedure.  Then UHC called to say that they will be covering Arden’s needs 100%.  To be clear, UHC is only covering the procedure because they aren’t loosing a dime on it.  All they are doing is sending a bill to Novartis.  Novartis is the hero in this story!

This whole mess was quite an eye-opener for me.  In the past when I heard politicians talking about people going bankrupt paying for healthcare, I thought they were talking about someone else.  As it turns out we are all only one unfortunate moment away from being that person.   

I’m going to walk away from this experience having learned 

two very important lessons.  Healthcare is nothing to take for granted and being lucky enough to work for a company that cares is a Godsend.

Thank you once again to everyone that helped!