HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Health Insurance HELP!!

Support Forums
>
Multiple Sclerosis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 7/7/2009 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
My husbands office recently changed health insurance and we could no longer afford it.  Well, we decided to go on our own but I wasn't aware how difficult it would be to get health insurance with MS!  So now my husband and children are insured but I am not.  Does anyone have any ideas for good affordable health insurance in Minnesota that would accept pre-existing conditions?

Thanks!

Posted 7/7/2009 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry for you!  That was a terrible mistake to make.  Insurance companies rate the risk of anything they insure-including your health.  There are no private insurance companies that will underwrite expensive medical conditions because they will lose money.

 

I know first hand as I not only work in medical coding and billing but also have RA and a few other health issues.  Any one of my medical problems would disqualify me from getting private medical insurance.  I've had to "shop" jobs to find a situation that suits my healthcare needs more so than anything else.

 

I strongly recommend looking into how to afford the health ins through your husband's job or him or you getting new jobs through which you can get health insurance.  Privately purchased plans are NOT very reliable and have a strong tendency to drop customers the second they cost them any money. You're left with little recourse.  Ins purchased through your employment can not drop individuals in such a manner.

 

It sounds like your income is too high for medicaid but your local office might also give you some ideas while you work on getting the health ins job you need.

Good luck

 
Posted 7/7/2009 3:57 PM (GMT 0)
I've never posted on this forum before but I noticed the topic.  We've been doing a lot of insurance stuff since I've been off on disability.

The one thought I had about your situation - the change in insurance coverage may quailfy as a "status change" and so you might be able to contiune your previous coverage thru the COBRA provisions.  You would have 60 days from the time the previous coverage ended to get it set up.  A HR rep from your husband's work might be able to help.  If it's available, you would pay the group rate for the coverage for yourself and you could do that for two years.  You have your own COBRA rights that are separate from anything your husband and kids may be doing.

Other than that - do you know if/ when your husband's insurance will have the next open-enrollment period? 

Posted 7/7/2009 5:16 PM (GMT 0)
Katydid, we run into this issue a lot on these forums. Unfortunately you've had to learn the hard way the our health insurance is our most valuable possession when we have serious health problems.

Minnesota has a high-risk insurance program for which you may well qualify. Here is the link:

http://www.mchamn.com/

Good luck, and I hope you are able to get coverage soon.

Posted 8/6/2009 12:09 PM (GMT 0)
In case you get desperate enough to move...Massachusetts already has mandatory universal health care. The eastern half of the state is expensive to live in, but the western half is more reasonable.

If you're completely uninsured, I think the insurance companies may be able to skirt around MS payments for 6 months. I'm not sure if that's still true or not now that we've gone to mandatory universal care. But I do know that after 6 months you'd be covered, no matter what. And Massachusetts uses community pricing, so the price is based on the coverage plan...not on what condition you have. Also, none of the plans seem to have any kind of lifetime limit or anything, which is nice.

People who can't afford to buy health insurance on their own can get help from the state to get insurance either free or at a reduced cost. Also, people can just buy insurance just off the shelf as an individual or family here, without having to go through a group employer plan.

Blue Cross Blue Shield is one of the companies in MA that sells directly to individuals and families, so you can check out coverage and prices just on the internet for them. If you're part of an employer plan, the employer may pay part of the cost, but the cost will probably be something pretty similar

Good luck!
Mamacita
(My new blog...I'm feeling so Internet hip these days) http://multiplesclerosisrecipes.blogspot.com/
Posted 9/28/2009 4:05 AM (GMT 0)
I feel your pain. I am having a lot of scary symptoms, and I can't even get into a neurologist to find out what they are because I have no health insurance. When I got too old to be on my parents' insurance, I got student insurance. When I graduated, I couldn't afford any, and had never had a job with benefits. Now I could afford it, but last year I was diagnosed with hypertension, and nobody wants me. Even if I can find a clinic with a neuro that will see me, it will only screw me over more in getting insurance later if diagnosed with something. I am praying that I can hold out a few more months until I am full time at my new job and on their insurance. I am also praying that we can fix the healthcare crisis SOON!
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply