Two Short of a Three-Legged Race Team

Whenever I get corporate letters, obviously machine generated, with what I suspect the testing panel has determined are 'will put their minds at ease' words scattered like Easter eggs throughout its passages, I can feel the hair on the nape of my neck stand up and attempt to flee (the tresses on the absolute top of my scalp have already started and I'm forming a search party I would prefer to not further explain. Ever.).

I mentioned some days/weeks back the note from Blue Cross sharing with me that they very much disagreed with the treatment approach of my cardiologist in an overnight hospital stay after a stent implant in my left leg.  Less than a week after that less than cheery note arrived an 'explanation of benefits' that I take (notice the tense of the verb and trust me when I tell you it ain't the only tense around here right now) to mean my share of the entire bill was my deductible.

As they say on late night TV, 'but wait, there's more.' In the mail just the other day, unbidden and certainly unexpected, by me, was another letter from the insurance company telling me "you can rest assured" that the (gulp!) $79,591.75 claim by the hospital is still being processed. Perhaps they had feared I was losing sleep over the hospital's situation. Yeah, you today-me tomorrow.

I would have a funding shortfall of about $79,591 in terms of paying this bill if, when all the rest assuring is done, the two behemoths decide to stick the dweeb at the kids' table with the check for the whole party.  I've been strengthening my most recently repaired leg and its partner, going for both speed and distance, in case I have to make a dash for a border. My concern is should I take off for the North of or South of?
-bill kenny