Divorce to qualify for medical card?

A

anonymous

New member
Hello.
I have been wondering about divorce to qualify for the Medical Card.

Has anyone ever gone through with this? My husband makes decent money, but he owns his own business so on our taxes we look like we make nearly $1 million because of the assets. They aren't looking at the debt we are in due to purchasing all of the necessary machines, etc. (He owns a metal fabrication company).

So I have been thinking of getting a divorce in order for me to qualify. I do not make much $ in my job. I work part time (20 hours/week) for a non profit organization which helps women who are raped. And I get SSD monthly to help with my med expenses. So I don't know what to do in the mean time for the med card to kick in. It would be 2 years from this past Feb. I will be broke by the time Feb 07 rolls around.

Can anyone give any suggestions?
Thank you very much,
KELLI
27 w/ CF
ps. We would still live as man and wife, but our finances would just look different. I'm not talking about reallly leaving him. Just doing this for financial reasons.
 
W

wallflower

New member
What type of medical card you wanting to get? I am assuming that you are talking about a Medicaid card (since your getting SSD, I'm assuming that you already have a medicare card)? If so, be very careful! Just because you are divorced may not make a difference if you are still living together. If you live with someone that they determine will assist you in your expenses, that is what counts against you (at least in my experience it has been). It is not easy to get SS to tell you straight out what you can and can't do (although I tend to have better luck talking to the 800 number than my local office), so be persistent in finding out all your options. You could try talking to your counties health center - they could tip you off on some programs that you may not be aware of that will also help you (or talk to your cf social worker - they should know about the ins and outs as well).

BTW - for those of you on Medicaid and you are laid off: if you collect unemployment they will cancel your card! Apparently it is "free" money that you are not working for, and to qualify for Medicaid you can not receive "free" or "gift" money to live on. I went through this last fall, and the worst part is that I talked to my SS worker before I applied for unempolyment, and he never indicaited that I would lose my insurance if I took it until AFTER I started receiving checks!

I think it is sad that our government encourages us stay at the bottom of the chain in exchange for medical assistance. I wish there were more choices in my state that did not punish me for being finiancially stable, owning a home or getting married. Unfortunately, I can't get insurance through work because of my "pre-existing" condition.

Sorry Kelli, didn't mean to rant on your post. In my state they have an optionial state program that allows you to have basically the same coverage as medicaid, but you pay a monthy premium based on your income (I make in the 40's, so my estimated premium was $370/mo). The great thing about the program is that if you are married, your spouse AND your income does not count against you - but you can only have so much in your assets (things in your name, not your spouses). You also must be working or you lose it. Unfortunalty, I don't qualify because SS has me coded just low enough that I still qualify for medicaid. Hope any of this helps!
 
A

anonymous

New member
I can relate to your situation but in a slightly different way. I've thought about legally divorcing so that my children can get Medicaid. It's really sad that we are forced into this type of situation but it's reality and we have to do what's best in the long run. We have talked a lot about this issue and haven't done it yet but are seriously considering it. I wouldn't tell anyone that I did this, including my children. I never want them to feel guilty for things we had to do in order for them to be taken care of. Since I'm still on the fence about the issue, I can't really give advice but will be interested in reading the responses since I'm considering the same thing. Best of luck to you.
 
A

anonymous

New member
I don't have a medical card or anything. We have insurance thru my husbands business but we have to pay out of pocket for a TON of stuff as well as Rx's. Our co-pays and deductibles are thru the roof.

All I have is an insurance card, no medical card, no help in any other way. Not even BCMH. I go to clinic in Sept so I will try to nab the social worker so I can get some info.

Thanks to those of you who responded.

KELLI
 
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