Insurance

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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited January 2017 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY
Insurance
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  • Ohmydarlin
    Ohmydarlin Member Posts: 292
    edited January 2017

    I may be losing my insurance coverage at work very soon, potentially as soon as the end of the month. I am in need of suggestions :

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  • Madelineg
    Madelineg Member Posts: 23
    edited January 2017

    You can apply for private insurance. Prices vary from state to state.They do accept preexisting conditions.I was paying $600 a month in TN but people in NY were paying much less. It's reversed now because I turned 65 in Aug. TN rates for a Medicare supplement are A third of what people pay in NY. I had blue cross blue shield of TN before I became eligible for Medicare. I had private because my husband passed away in 2010 and in 2013 Cobra ran out.I was diagnosed with cancer in May of 2016.

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  • Fitztwins
    Fitztwins Member Posts: 7,969
    edited January 2017

    Google Affordable health insurance and your states names. There are many out there.

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  • pajim
    pajim Member Posts: 2,785
    edited January 2017

    Is there an ACA exchange in your state? I know open enrollment is in November, but if you lose insurance I believe you can enroll at that time.

    Another suggestion -- if your workplace is stopping coverage, can HR offer some suggestions? You can't be the only one in this boat.


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  • EnglishMajor
    EnglishMajor Member Posts: 2,495
    edited January 2017

    You can also call an insurance broker Ian's request a quote. If you are leaving your job, you may be eligible for COBRA...ie you take over the premiums for your employer provided coverage. The downside is that COBRA can be expensive. The upside is, I believe your group insurance policy will have wider acceptance.

    Before you decide on your policy, make sure your current center accepts it. in recent years, if you have an individual policy, it has become harder to access academic cancer centers. Example: Ble Cross individual policies do not cover Chicagos downtown cancer centers....nor MD Anderson, etc.

    Beware of being shunted into an HMO. Many insurance companies don't offer individuals PPOs...they won't exactly call it an HMO but it is. HMOs are predicated on a primary care doc directing your care...fine if you are not a cancer patient....Some HMOs have really narrow networks...

    If you buy on the exchange, go with an established company. In IL, Land of Lincoln went out of business, I think in July 2016. enrollees then had to meet the deductible of their new plan...and also reset the clock on their max out of pocket. Many of the big insurers have left the market.

    COBRA I think has a 24 month limit...please check that out, I am going off the top of my head. if you would be eligible for Medicare soon, that is another consideration...

    It used to be that COBRA was often far more expensive than getting your own policy. That may not be the case today because individual policies have skyrocketed in many states. It may also be worth it if you have the wider coverage of a group plan

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  • EnglishMajor
    EnglishMajor Member Posts: 2,495
    edited January 2017

    one another note....if you decide to stop working and apply for SSDI...after approval there is six month wait for the first benefit check. (Some people report they got $ right away. This is because they weren't working...they "served" the waiting period. if yo just stopped working and weren't on LTD or STD or had some mitigating circumstances, like missing weeks and weeks of work due to cancer complications, your date of disability is the date you applied and you will have to wait six months.)

    After two years on SSDI, you will become eligible for Medicare...which is a good thing

    This assumes you paid into SS and have the required number of quarters worked.

    you can't apply for SSDI if you are actively employed (unless you were on LTD) but can look at the SS website to determine your benefi

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  • Madelineg
    Madelineg Member Posts: 23
    edited January 2017

    I had Cobra for 36 months . It's not cheap but I had good coverage.The plan I had after that had a $6500 out of pocket which I paid because that's when my cancer was diagnosed. It was diagnosed as stage ,4 from the start.

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