What options if you lost your job but couldn't afford Cobra?

You are correct in that you could not get an individual policy.  I do not know what I would do, but I would be the same as you in that I would have to wait 6 months to get into the high risk pool and it would probably cost as much or more than cobra.  Makes no sense to me.  NJ

"Breast and Cervical Cancer is a Medicaid optional eligibility category for certain groups of women who are in need of treatment for breast and cervical cancer."

Here's the link: https://www.cms.gov/MedicaidSpecialCovCond/02_BreastandCervicalCancer_PreventionandTreatment.asp

If I understand correctly, if eligible you can stay on Medicaid as long as you are in treatment for breast cancer. I think that would include endocrine therapy.

I'm not so sure you would be eligible for the high risk pool if you turned down cobra. At one point the feds were paying for a portion of cobra but I'm not sure if that program is going on anymore. That might have been one of the compromises with the Republicans.

I would seriously start talking with a local office of the American Cancer Society. The social workers can fill you in on what you can do. And their help is free.

This is an abomination to our nation that people of all ages and incomes cannot have affordable healthcare!  We should have a type of Medicare available for ALL citizens of all ages and incomes.  It would have premiums but they would be more affordable and according to what people can afford to pay.  It should be for ALL citizens who need it, working or non-workers, of all ages and especially available for PART TIME WORKERS!  Many people may not be well enough to work full time but can't work part time since they would be without insurance!  The entire system is sick, imo!  People get fired and they are stranded if they can't afford COBRA or don't find new jobs before COBRA ends!

I have written so many times to my reps and even Pres. Obama about this situation but they all act brain-dead when it comes to taking action on our Healthcare problems.  I know they have the Debt problem and many other problems to tackle but Healthcare should be at the top of the line, imo!  I am in the midst now of trying to help a relative survive due to the Healthcare situation in our country.  I worry day and night about what will happen to her if I can't get help for her!  This is not fair for us to be in this position in a country which used to be a AAA country!  What a sick joke we are becoming as a nation.  Tomorrow if I can tackle the emergencies I already have, I intend on writing "again" to my senators and Pres. Obama about the healthcare dismal problem.  I do hope some of you reading this will also send them letters.   Have a good night.

What happens when you go to the doc w/o insurance? My understanding is that you get billed the "rack rate" (not the "network negotiated rate"). In looking at some of my medical bills, that difference can be more than the monthly premium. I've heard so many horror stories of huge medical bills that I've be very afraid to be uninsured.  Does your COBRA offer any scaled-down benefits, maybe just a "major medical" plan? I believe Medicare kicks in at age 62, in case that helps. Any other group options, like your university alumni group or any professional organizations or ???

I hate our health insurance system.

Peggy - no Medicare kicks in at 65, unless you are diagnosed as "terminal," which in our case is Stage IV, when you are eligible for Medicare 18 months after diagnosis.

Yes, that is insane. The law was written when insurance premiums weren't twice the monthly house payment (in my family's case), but the purpose was that they wanted to encourage people to stay with their own insurance, and not just go to Medicare (which is the highest growth rate program around).

Right now, if you really cannot afford Cobra, the only other thing to do is to go without for 6 months, then sign up with your state's uninsured plan. No, these will not be cheap. But they will be affordable.

If you get another job, you may find that they will not cover any treatment for a pre-existing condition unless you have a Certificate of Continuous Coverage from your previous insurance company. Companies used to pay for this to be waived, now, not so much.

I don't want to get into the politics of this, but this all makes me so angry! Sometimes, it seems like big business is just targeting the last source of money in this country - our savings and Social Security.
Damn!

Fearless_one - My husband was laid off a month prior to my diagnosis.  NICE.  Of course, he was laid off 30 days before the federal plan to either assist or reduce cobra payments.  The company covered us for 6 months and then we paid the cobra. 

We did get an individual policy after cobra expired.  Blue Cross could not deny us under the "continuous coverage" clause.  It was actually about the same price as Cobra, so I don't know if that would help you, but I wonder if the insurance company could offer you more of a catastrophic coverage that would be cheaper, yet cover you if something serious happened.  

Check into the continuous coverage with the insurance company, so if indeed a layoff occured perhaps you could decline Cobra, but then get catastrophic with the same insurance company and they would have to cover you due to the "continuous coverage" law.

Hopefullly, your job is safe but I understand your concern.  

If you get laid off....... depending on your needs via cancer drugs and treatment, meaning if your at a stage in your cancer treatment whereas you could afford to take a 6 months "hiatus" then you could be eligible for the new www.pcip .com  in your state under the affordable act.  You would need to access all the information as the plan applies to you because some drugs/treatments are not covered. 

Example:  If you need Zometa and as it typically is administered every 3 months, not only would you not be afforded the 6 months without coverage but more importantly, Zometa is one of the drugs not covered.  As long as you don't need anything they don't cover, it's better than nothing and it's way less expensive than Cobra.

Mountains1day, it appears to me thta Zoladex is available from pciplan. The web site says you can get either a 10.8 mg implant or 3.65 mg implant. Is that what you're looking for?

Mountains1day, go here: http://www.medco.com/medco/consumer/druglistdirect/entryPage.jsp?formid=00035&prefaltid=00020 and type "Zoladex."

The way I got to the page above was by going to http://www.pciplan.com/ and clicking "Prescriptions" in the blue bar on the right. From there I clicked "Preferred Prescriptions" in the 4th paragraph. 

For Zoladex it says "plan preferred," but I could be misinterpreting what that means. You might want to have the page up on your computer screen and try calling them again. 

Am coming up on 63 days...COBRA ran out June 30..FL high risk pool has been "closed" to enrollment since 1991!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unemployed, 6 1/2 years out from BC and they are using my RX history to set my premium at $930.00 a month...

 YUCK!

Marcia

soccermom4force - OMG!!!

Ladies:  Want a laugh about the PCIP Plan?  I finally found out why they stuck the "6 month clause from Hell" in it.  It seems they were concerned if they didn't that millions of citizens would cancel the plans they had and jump into the PCIP Plan due to the lower cost and it would overload the plans.  Well!   It sunk on them like all of the other BAD ideas our brilliant reps come up with.  Instead, now they are whinning that not enough people are buying into the plan!  I wrote and told them to then do what they should have done at first. Take OUT that ridiculous clause! I doubt they will tho.  Has something to do with a "vow" I think they took to act braindead once they go to Washington!

Someone needs to come up with affordable healthcare for people who lose their jobs.  We are thankful to have COBRA for our relative but it is "not" cheap and after the first 18 months I am told "if" we need another extended period for her, it will be even higher!   Things are really a mess with out healthcare system in the US!

Fearless One:  I didn't know one had to be disabled  to qualify for Medicaid.  I thought it was mainly income and asset based and was for the poor who could not afford other healthcare.  No wonder there are so mainly people who have to go to the Emergency Rooms for care!  What a horrible mess our healthcare system is in?  I do hope that social worker can help you find a way to get on it.  Best of luck!