Insurance Policy Cancelled

B

bloggymom

Member
I just got notification from my insurance (government run insurance program) that my policy is getting cancelled at the end of the year. I am freaking out to say the least. My husband and I cannot afford insurance after December. I am not sure how I am going to get care for my lungs (and digestive system) as self pay would be beyond us financially as well. Hubby has his own business (no employees after the first of the year). Work slows down to a crawl over the winter and we normally go into survival mode.

Anyone else in a similar situation???
 
S

sue3582

New member
As of January won't it be illegal to not have insurance, assuming you are in the US? Have you looked into what it will cost under the ACA?

Are you sick enough to qualify for disability? Or healthy enough to work, even part time? Some places offer benefits to part time employees? Can your husband take on work during the off season just for insurance purposes? Or to get money?
 
L

Liza

New member
Sad to say, I'm hearing this from all over. I'm no help, sorry. I hope you can qualify for those talked about subsidies. Sue3582, yes, there will be penalties.
 
B

bloggymom

Member
It was PCIP. I was not a scam... it was on their letterhead and I found on the internet (after much searching) that they were out off funding. The frustrating part was from what I read they were projecting loss of funding before they even added my state to the plan. We are looking at over $1000 for my family.

That is out of control $$$.

My husband is already working 1 full time job and 2 part time jobs to cover my current insurance, non-covered medical expenses, non-covered Rx (which are pricey), and living expenses. We live in an average rent house, have no cable, I cook from scratch and we have one car, no extracurriculars for Kiddo. Kiddo has a small job as well. I am trying to start a home business to help with medical expenses.
 
H

hammerpocket

Guest
PCIP (Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan for those who don't know) is for people who have been denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions. Under the ACA, you can't be denied insurance due to a pre-existing condition, so the plan is obsolete. Hopefully you will qualify for an insurance subsidy under the ACA.

(BTW, the scams in the linked article were not perpetrated by someone pretending to be an insurance company - it was the actual insurance companies doing the scam!)
 
A

Aboveallislove

Super Moderator
Have you tried working with the clinics social workers? They might be able to guide you better to options. I am so very sorry you are facing this.
 
B

bloggymom

Member
We tried to sign up for health coverage with our agent... found out we have to sign up for medicaid first.

It is taking 45 days + for them to process medicaid applications. We won't be able to sign up for the insurance plan we want until we get a medicaid denial. If we get our medicaid application back in a timely manner then we can sign up for health insurance around the first of January (at the earliest). I imagine the upcoming holidays will make processing our application take longer so... being realistic... it could be end of January until we get the okay. This all means we will be without coverage until the middle of February.

Will be without health coverage for over a month.... going to pray and hope I don't get sick or that my MAC or pseudomonas doesn't flare up. Also praying I don't fall and break my hip.... it is super wobbly.

Wishing I would have known more sooner.... I am now on the computer researching this new Obamacare so that I don't miss anymore details and hopefully won't get anymore surprises in the meantime.
 
R

RytheStunner

Guest
Unfortunately, people are always going to immediately blame the ACA when they hear about insurance polices being cancelled.

The real problem here is the greedy insurance companies who are cancelling policies because they don't want to pay money to provide the very BASIC guidelines of care that the ACA requires.
 
B

Beccamom

New member
I looked into the Affordable Care Plan for my family. If you or your spouses job offer health insurance no matter how high the monthly premiums or how few things are covered or if it has any max out of pocket expense you are not eligible for any subsidy under the Affordable care Act. I work part time and Im offered benefits at double the cost of the full time employees. Based on this years benefit options for my job I would pay more then I earn in my job for monthly premiums and medical expenses based on last years medical bills. Under the Affordable Care Act options my monthly premiums would exceed my part time income. I am fortunate and my husband's job offered an option that works for us. My daughter is only a freshman in college, but I worry about what job she may get with health insurance with more than 50 people so she is covered by family medical leave. She just turned 14 my biggest worry should not be a job for her based on medical health insurance offerings.
 
T

turtle10000000

New member
If you need some basic meds...

Hey Bloggymom, if it comes down to it, I may be able to mail you some basic CF medicine like enzymes, cipro, and albuterol or atrovent. I have some extra from when I didn't have to use my home medical supplies in the hospital. If you need them in between insurances, then message me what you need/ would like and I'll see what I can do. We CFer's need to stay together and weather through this bureaucratic mess!
 
J

Jet

Member
The PCIP state programs are transitioning to a federal program under the ACA. There is information on the site about what needs to be done to transition to the federal program. Hopefully this helps.



http://www.pcip.gov
 
C

cflawyer

New member
If a person with CF needs information on accessing insurance coverage they can contact the CF Legal Information Hotline at 1-800-622-0385. All calls are free and confidential. The Hotline is sponsored by a grant from the CF Foundation and was started in 1998 and has received over 32, 000 calls. Based on the posts here it is clear people are receiving a lot of incorrect information. Get accurate information. Contact the CF Legal Information Hotline whose Director is a 48 year old woman with CF.
 
J

jamest

Guest
Simba15 said:
Um I think it is against the law to pass your prescription medicines on to another person!
Click to expand...
Not to mention, if another person with CF is handling the meds, there is a risk of cross contamination.

A better suggestion is to get on the copay assistance programs, I use one for Creon, Cayston, and Podhaler scrips and this dramatically reduces my annual care costs.
 
T

turtle10000000

New member
So Simba I should let another CF patient wither away because the government says I can't help? If I have to break a law to help someone in need, then so be it! If our society has come to the point where helping people is against the law, then we need to stand up and change it. Oh and as for cross contamination... My family has 7 kids, 5 with CF. We all have different bacterial strains and only I have a resistant strain. We have shared rooms, food, drink, etc. yet none of us have cross contaminated one another. Cross-Contamination is over hyped by so many people it has gotten to the point where now CFer's lives are being effected with these "boy in the bubble" type isolation protocols. That doesn't mean not to wash your hands, cover your mouth, wear a mask, and have good hygeine. It means don't isolate your cf child or yourself from every possible bad thing that could happen. Live your life! I digress, but my main point was if there is no other alternative and you're dying then I am happy to help a fellow CFer any way I can!
 
D

dolphinsrule

New member
Hi there,
With the move to expand Medicaid (HMO) programs, depending on what State you live in, this may have been the catalyst; it has been an administrative nightmare. I found out I no longer had coverage when I tried to get a much needed prescription filled. Thankfully, I had saved a few supervisors' names at the Medicaid office (from a previous issue) and they looked into the matter and explained what had happened. I did not get a sensible explanation from the HMO contact number; they didn't seem to want to be accountable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top