EOB.

a song to set the scene // songs in my head by honne

My $400 medical bill sat splayed in front of me, staring at me in the face.

Now $400 isn’t a lot for a medical bill, but this was for a covid and a strep test.

I mean, come on.

Did I mention I had insurance?

Well, apparently it didn’t cover.

As I logged into my member dashboard to find out why my insurance wasn’t covering, confusing words like tiers, and claims, and deductibles blaringly read back at me.

I swear, insurance is a scam.

Do they purposefully make it confusing? Do they intentionlly explain your member benefits in fine print so you won’t find out your insurance doesn’t actually cover “urgent” visits, like covid and strep tests?

Apparently so. It was all there, detailed in my “Explanation of Benefits.”

An “Explanation of Benefits”, or EOB for short, helps you understand how much your health plan covers when you receive a medical bill.

And I guess in my particular case, urgent visits weren’t covered.

A week later, I found myself face down in a bath tub, bubbly bathwater returning my gaze in a candlelit bathroom.

I was sick, on day 4 of suffering from bronchitis.

My gem, I was finding, was showing his full colors as a wonderfully well-equipped nurse.

He had been making me tea every night, tucking me in, preparing me soup, and drawing me spa-like baths, complete with back massage.

They were all benefits of this beautifully built boyfriend of mine, and I wasn’t discovering them until now.

I learned something, sitting in that bath tub.

An EOB, which can be downright confusing especially in regards to insurance, is also sometimes best unearthed after the fact.

It’s been years since I started dating my gem, and while I’ve always known him to be… well, a jewel, this particular level of love and care struck me.

While it would be nice to know what my insurance covers (and what it doesn’t cover), my gem’s EOB was helping me understand that sometimes, it’s a greater joy to find out the benefits of your relationship along the way.

It’s a gift that I find myself continuously unwrapping.

And I just keep soaking it up.

Face down in a bath tub, bubbly bathwater returning my gaze in a candlelit bathroom.