Update My Insurance Nightmare

I have another thread (title: individual plan for 58 year old BC survivor?) about my problems when my employer dropped my previous health  forcing me to switch to Kaiser- or get an individual plan- I am a low income/ "underemployed" individual, 7 1/2 year survivor- did NOT want to switch from my old BC medical team- I had a complicated case, HER-2 plus, all kinds of twists and turns and files so huge no new provider would even read them I'm sure!

thanks SO MUCH to everyone that contributed on that thread, esp Thriver- I think I have somewhat of a handle on things, going forward-

this is just an update- I went with Kaiser - it is a 30 copay, 1500 deductible plan, but at least the premium is low..it would have been 484 per month but due to employer subsidy it will "only" cost me 214. per month- everyone on the other thread showed me how the individual plan was a BAD idea.

Then I found out that Lexapro (my anti-anxiety antidepressant) is not on Kaiser's formulary and they wanted to switch me to Celexa..which I do not even want to try- very sensitive to meds and went thru 2 other anti deps before finding Lexapro which was a god send- I think I found something promising to get Lexapro- thru another thread of Thriver's- the Needy Meds website is awesome! I think I can get the onc from my old team (pre-Kaiser) to prescribe it. I am going to get in to see  her ASAP, as I am way overdue on the bloodwork she does.

after getting all the great insights of others here on the board and mulling it ll over and researching-  I see clearly that there are three scenarios I'm trying to work on all at the same time- so trying to break it down it looks like this-.

The immediate issue is: How do I work with (or not work with!) Kaiser for this plan year, given the unaffordable high copay/deductible situation. Secondarily, how do I manage with Kaiser now thru age 62 when I hope to retire.(3 years)

Answer: try to get Medi-Cal to pick up the copays and deductibles- just applied and am awaiting next step on that-  if medi-Cal helps, then I can try Kaiser for my BC follow-up for one plan year. If Medi-Cal won't do that, then I will avoid going to Kaiser even if I have to defer some of my less urgent health needs- and I will go out of pocket to go to my old onc, breast surgeon and breast center for my routine BC follow-up (which is bloodwork from onc, breast center for mammo, ultrasound and every other year MRI- all of which is reviewed by breast surgeon along with his clinical breast exam.) I will apply in advance for low-income patient assistance for the testing thru the breast center and cut back all other expenses to necessities only- and also continue to look for a better job or secondary source of income to supplement my current job.

As far as Lexapro- I'm going to try to get it from the manufacturer's Patient Assistance Program- get my old onc to handle giving me RX or possibly e-maili Kaiser doc and see if he can do it- because if manufacturer gives it to you you have to pick it up at your Drs office and onc is far away and would require time off from work.

Next issue- if I can retire in 2014 at age 62  What to do about health insurance from age 62 until age 65? I need to find out if I will automatically be eligible for COBRA from my current employer, and if so is it 18 months or 36 months. (do you know this?) But if I can get COBRA can I afford it? Or would I get Medi-Cal- but are the providers for Medi-Cal lower quality? If I retired then, I hope to be able to collect SS on my ex husband's record. Maybe Obamacare will help me somehow as that is the year it's supposed to be fully implemented! I want to be proactive on this because it is coming up fast!

Final issue- Medicare at age 65- it sounds like this is where things may get easier, as long as I can afford supplemental insurance..no issue going to high quality providers, finally!

Have I missed anything that you can see? Please feel free to chime in if you have any experience or expertise- And i am SO thankful that at least I have a job, insurance and relatively good health- I know I am very lucky in the big picture...