Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with reimbursement

Free degree or let loose passion?

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:11:08 -0800

I work for a university with a generous tuition discount and after two years of research my conclusion is that the graduate programs here are generally for people who return to their same jobs (with the exception of med and law school). Most programs rank above the top 30 and the reviews from alumni and current students have given me the impression classes tend to be weak. Help me here! I want to do my masters. Since not finishing it at another university it has been a passion of mine to do the degree. However, faced with a lot of choice at this university where I work, none of the choice is in my own interest areas.
I really don't want to start anything new. I realize there are some directions I could go that would be good off-shoots but I am unsure as to what it would mean in the context of the job I currently have and will probably have once the degree is finished. Frankly, the job I have is one I am great at but whose prospects are very dim in the current economic environment. I keep thinking that perhaps the best idea would be to do something in policy as a way to make something out of nothing, however my heart lies in technical and creative brand management - a highly selective field I needed time off from. It's been two years and the economy has since tanked so I am stuck. Chuck it in? Do a degree while I work and look for work? Chart a new course?

Can I / should I accept reimbursement for a car repair I didn't do?

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:40:56 -0800

Is it legal to accept $500 from a car insurance company, reimbursing me for a repair I'm not going to make? If it's legal, should I? Recently my car was very lightly rear-ended. Both I and the other driver are insured. There were no injuries and my car has no visible damage -- I took it to my mechanic, who I trust, who confirmed that there was no damage from the collision. The other driver's insurance company sent a photographer to take photos of my car to check its condition. The photographer reported a small nick in my bumper, and based on this, the other driver's insurance sent me a check for $500 for a new bumper. The nick is almost invisible (my wife can see it, I haven't managed to) and we have no interest in getting a new bumper. My wife thinks it might be OK to just cash the check, on the grounds that the eventual resale value of the car will be lower because it's been involved in an accident, however small. I'm concerned that it might actually be against the law to cash a check for replacing a bumper that I didn't actually replace. I see a few options:
A. Cash the check, pocket the money.
B. Cash the check, replace the undamaged bumper. (Seems like a waste of the world's resources, but maybe I should think of it as economic stimulus?)
C. Don't cash the check, keep it, and if I need to replace the bumper for some other reason in the next year (the life of the check,) cash it.
D. Cut up the check.

We don't want to do anything illegal. So: which of these four options is legal? And of the legal ones, which are ethically OK?
(Anonymous in case the right answer is "A is probably legal but I wouldn't do it if my real name were attached to the general practice in a public place.")

Gynecologists in NYC who will order a Mirena IUD

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:10:33 -0800

Gynecologists in NYC who will order a Mirena IUD for me? I'm trying to get a Mirena IUD and am encountering a frustrating loop regarding getting it paid for by my health insurance, which is United Healthcare. Here is the story:

-I am in NYC
-I have not had children
-My gynecologist is willing to implant an IUD and we have decided on the Mirena. The problem is getting it paid for.
-My insurance, United, covers the Mirena - both implantation and paying for the iud itself - 100% as a medical benefit. However.
-My gynecologist's office will not order the actual device because they have had trouble being reimbursed by United at the rate that they are charged by Bayer (who makes the Mirena). They want me to order and pay for the device myself and then seek reimbursement.
-United will not pay for the device unless the doctor's office orders it; they say I cannot just pay for it and then be reimbursed.

I've gone back and forth on this and no one is budging; they both say the alternative is to find a doctor who is willing to order the Mirena, but that they cannot suggest a doctor. This thing is $600 and it is supposed to be covered by my insurance, so I'm trying to avoid just sucking it up and paying.

So my question is, are there any NYC Mefites who have successfully acquired a Mirena and had it paid for by United Health? And if so, would you be willing to share the name of your gynecologist?

Who blinks first

Fupped Duck — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:44:00 -0800

My employer, a publicly traded company incorporated in Delaware, is dragging its feet reimbursing me for about 5k in expense reports. I live and work in Calif. The reason for this is a genral company-wide liquidity problem. I don't expect my employment to last much more than a few mos more. What recourse do i have to get reimbursed?

If I broke my car on the job, do I have to foot the bill?

dearest — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:07:18 -0800

I broke my car driving to a location, for work. I just got the bill and it's nearly $900 to fix it. What sort of recourse can I take as far as company reimbursement is concerned? If so, how do I approach this discussion? I'm not usually included on video shoots because it's not my department at the ad agency where I work. This time it was mandatory that I be there, and had to drive myself to the locations.

Long story short I ended up doing a fair amount of damage to my already frail '99 VW Beetle en route to a shoot location. I had to have it towed to the mechanic the next morning as the shoot ended at 3am.

This was a shoot for a non-paying account, so there was no budget to work with nor was there any revenue generated from this project. I wasn't getting any additional pay for my extra hours on the job. It's a small agency, (<15 people.) I don't get paid very much at all. I'm not high up in this company. I've been there 1 1/2 years now.

I've told my bosses how much it will cost to repair my car in order to open the door for them to offer to cover some of the cost of repairs. No one has said anything except, "that sucks."

I'm pretty frustrated as I didn't even want to be at this shoot and now it's going to cost me $900!!!

Does the company have to help me since it happened during a shoot that while work related? Am I crazy to even think about expecting some reimbursement? How else can I look at this situation?

don't call me anymore

somersault — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:20:20 -0800

My ex has turned violent on me. What recourses can I take? We’ve had other violent interactions while together, in which the police were called by neighbors. He has had his hands around my throat and pushed me down. We are no longer together.

Last night, my then significant other and I got into a petty disagreement, which escalated into a point of no return. We were arguing and I asked him to leave my place. He did so but then returned (which by the way is scary, since my building has a secured entrance so either for ten or so minutes he waited inside the building or somehow managed to enter without authorization). I opened the door. He looked like he had been crying and asked me if I thought things were really going to work out between us. We talked for a bit while he was still in the hallway. Our conversation escalated and without invitation he came in.

He started yelling at me and demanding to look at my text messages for evidence about what my evening plans were. I told him he was being irrational and he needed to leave. I told him this repeatedly. He refused. I continued to refuse to submit on the grounds that he had absolutely no right to demand such invasions of my privacy. He thought this was evidence of my guilt. He admitted to going through my personal possessions at an earlier time when we were still together, which apparently was the catalyst to his suspicions. I tried to leave (I got to the stairway) but he followed me and continued to argue. I returned to my apartment to get away from him. He demanded that I delete his number. While I was doing so, he manhandled the phone away from me and deliberately smashed my cell phone on the ground. He has acknowledged such action but refuses to pay. He even acknowledged while in the heat of the moment that he knew he was behaving crazily. We were both obviously sober. He is also a diagnosed bipolar if this explains the rash succession of events. I only mention this because he has brought this up to explain past irrational behaviors.

I have no desire to get back together with him so this isn’t some plea to reconcile. I just want to know what recourses I have to take against him in order for him to reimburse me for the phone. I know it’s small potatoes and an unreasonable fight but this situation feels like the last straw in a long line of personal invasions. What can I do? I was told I could file a small claims report for relatively cheap? I was also told to cut my losses and walk away.

We work together as well. I was told to speak to my boss but this happened off site and seems irrelevant to the job. I also don’t want my personal life dredged through work.

I've talked to a few close friends. They've told me to ignore it. If people tell me to swallow it (one more time), I think I might scream. Please tell me that there is something, anything I can do to gain some sort of control of this situation.

What can I do? What should I do?

Tuition Assistance

apdato — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:40:20 -0800

What companies offer tuition assistance? What national or Milwaukee area companies offer tuition reimbursement or assistance? The only ones I know that do are Blockbuster and the Home Depot. Is there a list online somewhere?

Difference between rural and urban Medicare reimbursement

ikkyu2 — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:26:58 -0800

What is the difference between urban and rural Medicare physician reimbursements? Medicare/HCFA classifies service areas into "urban" and "rural." Rural services are reimbursed at a lower rate, but I am having trouble discovering how much lower that lower rate actually is, either as a percent or as an absolute value to compare. I'm most interested in neurologist services (new consultation, EEG/EMG, LP), but would be interested in learning about other medical and surgical specialties too.

Non-physician services such as rehab, hospital days, radiology tests, etc., are not the numbers I'm looking for. In fact, they seem to be the chaff that is preventing me from getting anywhere when Googling this topic.

Is it legal (if assholish) to demand reimbursement to attend your mother's death?

Mrs Hilksom — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:42:30 -0800

WTF filter: My grandmother died in November. My uncle flew out to "help out"; he sifted through the belongings, and shipped a bunch of furniture back to his home in another province. Recently he presented my mom with a "bill" for all the expenses he incurred during the process of attending my grandmother's death, expecting to be paid back out of the estate, even though my grandfather (demented and unaware of everyday reality) is in a care facility, still living on that money. What now? Tallied up on my uncle's "bill": his flight, the hotel in the stopover city, the rental car, the gas, his meals, and the cost of shipping the things he inherited back to himself via a courier.

My mother housed my grandparents for five years with no financial support from her brother, and absorbed many many many of their expenses over the years they lived there. My uncle never contributed financially to their upkeep (despite requests to do so) and his yearly visits were paid for by my grandmother - he was her favourite by far.

My uncle is well employed and owns a home, has two sons who went through university on my grandparents' dime, and has a generous pension - he's not hurting financially. My mother wants to "pay out" my uncle's "bill" from the estate so that she can "put it behind them" (he has sent three copies of the "bill" so far, each time reminding her to pay it out) but I wonder if it doesn't set a legal precident.

(This is completely beside the fact that my uncle has obviously lost the plot entirely - who asks to be repaid when they attend their own mother's death? Especially when they can well afford it?)

This is the latest in a long series of weird money things with my uncle over the years (for example he wanted me to pay for him to attend my wedding because he'd be 'helping out' with my grandparents) and I just don't want my mom to end up compromised if my grandparents' estate runs out of money before my grandfather dies and somehow my mom gets stuck with supporting his costs month to month (large $$ for his care in a home, now) because my uncle never contributed and indeed helped drain the estate with his visits and the associated expenses. My mom earns less than my uncle and is definitely not in a position to support my grandfather at his current level of care, and bringing him back to her home is not an option at this stage.

What now? The gloves are basically off in terms of salvaging the relationship with my uncle - this was the final straw after years of truly crazy selfish behaviour, so now we're just looking to mitigate against actual legal wrangling in the future.

Suggestions - legal stances and interpersonal negotiations strategies to prevent legal battles - are solicited.

Work-related travel expenses on my personal credit card?

macinchik — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 11:37:45 -0800

Is it unreasonable for me to be unwilling to put work-related travel expenses on my personal credit card? My company's process involves asking employees to put travel and lodging fees on their own credit card, and then file for reimbursement (which takes no less than a month).

I am not sure I will be working here much longer, the travel they want me to book would be expensive, and I just feel like asking me to finance it personally is a huge imposition, and a crossing of a line between my employment and my personal life.

Am I being ridiculous?