TheMommyBlog

Running out of Insurance is the worst!  I have three kids, and one by one they each got strep throat back in February.  As a relatively new parent, the sight of Tonsil Stones was alarming (and gross!)  We didn’t know what to make of it, so we took em to the hospital.  MaineCare (our version of medicare) called and flipped out on us!  Good Luck!

Read up on your states version of Medicaid or the Title program for the economically depressed. Sorry to say it that way but it’s the best way I can think of to describe it. In Iowa it can be the HAWK-I (for kids) or Title 19 (for qualifying persons of all ages)

In my former life as a HR person I worked with HIPPA. It can be complex but I’ll put the basics in a nutshell. HIPPA covers information privacy and health coverage portability. Portability has more to do with pre-exisiting conditions that the coverage itself. Your COBRA issuer (or the company it was through) will issue you a certificate of coverage showing that you’ve had continuous coverage for a period of time. This is important because the # of months of continuous coverage plays a role in whether or not pre-existing conditions are covered under your NEW coverage. Given the state of the company you might want to formally request it just to cover your bases so to speak.

Hope that helps you a bit :)

I have no personal experience with this program, so I don’t know how quickly they could hook you up, but I read an article that mentioned them some time ago (no idea in which magazine, waiting for an oil change).

https://www.pparx.org/prescription_assistance_programs

The are lots of “Associations” that require minimal annual dues and offer insurance.  Start looking at various writer/creative artist/ free lancer associations and see (a) can you join, (b) what it costs, and (c) their insurance program.  I’m on Cobra and would be horrified if it was pulled.  Best to you.

Angela

I somewhat work in the industry (for a third party administrator for employer self-funded health plans) and before I started working here, I worked for a tech company and got laid off like the rest of us.  I couldn’t afford COBRA at all and panicked.  My kid qualified for the state-run health plan for kids that was better than Medicaid, but required a premium of $5 a month.  Even though it takes forever for the paperwork to go through, they will back date the effective date of coverage to when your other coverage expires and you can submit your bills then.  In the meantime, you have to makenice with the office staff of your providers who not only don’t understand but don’t care.  But, it will work itself out.

Then, whilst layed off and unemployed and uninsured, guess who got pregnant.  Guess!  Yup.  So then, since I was pregnant, I qualified for Medicaid and me and the babe were covered as well.  My husband just rolled the dice with no coverage.

Once again, it took forever for the paperwork to go through and I just had the office people hold the bills until it was approved, but it all worked out.

Medicaid was designed for situations like this.  It will be okay (even though it doesn’t seem like it now.)

I hope it all works out for you.

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www.chatterscene.com