Before separating from my husband, one of my very biggest logistical concerns was in maintaining proper health insurance for myself. The children I did not worry about; I knew they would stay insured through their father. But me? Without proper planning I’d lose my coverage.
That was the last thing I wanted to happen. I take medication daily. There’s a history of some nasty illnesses running through my family. And while I could almost certainly afford the routine visits that are typical for me, my already tenuous financial infrastructure would be utterly devastated by an uninsured car accident. Or cancer.
As perhaps you’ve deduced, I am nothing if not a meticulous planner. I almost always have a list of things to do ticking away on kitchen counter and computer; I follow it with zeal. This is not to say that there aren’t times when arcane paperwork-related tasks fall through the cracks. They do. But I do my very best to stay on top of the monumental job of managing my family’s paperwork and setting thing aright when they go off course.
And so before the divorce was even close to becoming final, I investigated the proper procedure for transferring my insurance to COBRA. I made careful notes. I put instructions on my calendar.
As the finalization date drew closer, I double-checked those instructions with my benefits contact person at least twice. I was given the same advice on procedures each time. And when at long last the marriage was over, I did indeed follow the given directives.
My ex dutifully filed the appropriate paperwork, partially because he didn’t want me bitching at him and partially because it would save him money. And then, as instructed, we waited. And continued to wait. And then we waited some more.
But alas, no COBRA paperwork arrived. After a handful of phone calls to my benefits contact person, it came out that the paperwork had been lost. So (bless his heart) my ex refiled. We were told to wait some more. Which we did. And then we waited for even longer, during which time I called benefits again, and again, and again, only to be told that things were in the works.
After waiting for over five months from the date of our finalization, I called one last time. “What the fuck is going on?” I screamed, but only in my head. “Can you please tell me what the status is on my paperwork,” I instead very politely asked.
She assured me once again that things were moving along, but I insisted that she check. She refused. I insisted once again, and when finally she came back on the line, she grumbled that somehow, some way, the paperwork had failed to be filed. That’s when I felt the adrenaline surge through my body as I envisioned this person roasting slowly over an open pit. Once again I contained myself. “What does this mean for my coverage?” I asked, teeth clenched.
“I really can’t say,” she admitted, and ended the conversation with a continued admonition to wait.
I didn’t have to wait long. Just two business days after our last talk, paperwork arrived from the folks who handle COBRA. Denied, the paperwork said. I’d missed the window of application. I could no longer apply for COBRA. Ever. Once the window closes, it cannot reopen. Moreover, I would also have to pay back any care I’d received since the date of the divorce. All told, this disaster could end up costing me thousands of dollars.
I pictured my benefits person’s skin crackling greasily as I spooned barbecue sauce over it.
The rest of that morning I spent shaking with fear and range, making call after call to the people who seemed the most likely to be able to help me. As I write this post I’m clinging to some hope that the mess can be rectified.
Because if it’s not? I’m going to be a very very unhappy blogger.
——
Omg you guys are going to love the Babeland swag. Another hint? You want another hint, do you? Well ok. We’re also giving away this, which is like a sweet little g-spotting hat for the Hitachi Magic Wand. And these two things are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg, my friends. Keep watching for more information.
Ack. Nothing worse than having a situation completely out of your control and having someone else f*ck it up for you.
There are ways for people to get insurance through business organizations. Try your local chamber of commerce and/or state or local business association. You may have to pay an annual membership fee to the organization in order to be part of the group, but it could be less than $100.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield now offers individual coverage, call them directly.
As aggravating as all this is, having your own coverage is far, far less expensive than COBRA. Good luck.
I had a similar situation. (Filed an application for COBRA, paperwork never arrived, called to follow up and was told that I’d missed the window.) In my case, I was able to offer some proof that I’d sent the paperwork to them (in my case, fax log showing a multipage fax to their office on a specific date) and the administrator was able to retroactively provide coverage to me. So I’d argue that they’re not telling you the entire truth when they say that once the window closes, it can’t be reopened. There should be room for correcting errors.
That said, I have mixed feelings about my experience on Cobra. It was expensive. In my case, about $350 a month. I paid it, and I did make good use of the benefits while I was under Cobra. But there’s the catch. Once I went off Cobra, I had an impossible time getting new insurance because I’d been making full use of my Cobra insurance for 18 months (and the health insurance from my prior insurer for years before that). The non-cancerous mole I had removed? The bad PAP smear? The rosacea treatment? The Ambien prescription that my doctor had written for me? All used against me to deny me insurance coverage. I’ve since gotten major medical coverage for about $140 a month that excludes all preexisting conditions. If I can go about 3 more years without any major medical conditions, I hope I’ll be able to get back onto a more comprehensive policy. Part of me wishes I’d tried to apply for regular coverage before opting for the Cobra coverage. If I’d known then what I know now I’d probably do some things differently.
Good luck!
Shit on a stick, this fucking sucks. I’ve been without health insurance myself (My lovely first full time job wouldn’t give me benis, so I went with Healthy NY) and then back to school to get under mom and dad’s…once I turn 25 I’m done.
So I know, sort of, how this sucks. Thankfully, they caught my cervix thing while it was still insured, but man would it suck of things flared up while between coverage…
I’m crossing my fingers and keeping you in my thoughts hoping this works out somehow.
Man, its things like this that make me wish I lived in France. They’ve got awesome healthcare, lucky bastards.
I’m so sorry. I don’t have insurance, though my kids do, through their father’s work (my Ex).
No advice, just empathy.
COBRA is horrendously expensive. As mentioned before, check your state’s BC/BS. I’ve had that before and it wasn’t too expensive.
On COBRA’s lack of response: Contact your local Dept. of Labor and FILE A COMPLAINT with all your information and who you talked to. The lack of response in the department is the kicker. They fucked it up, not you.
My husband nor myself have any health insurance. I applied for it at work during open enrollment, and again when I had my daughter, but both times the paperwork was “misdirected” and I didn’t get it in time to be considered for coverage. Thankfully, my daughter is covered through state insurance.
I don’t really have any advice for you, just my hopes that things will turn out for the best for you. Good luck1
Crap! But isn’t it their fault you missed the window? I want there to be some way you can make them accountable for this. It’s ridiculous. I’m so sorry!
(btw – love your blog! first time commenting….)
oh man that would make me sooooooooooo mad. Just keep talking to someone higher and higher in the organization is all I can advise, I suppose. If your person can’t help you, talk to her boss. if he can’t, ask for the name of his boss and keep working your way up. The higher you go in a company, the less they are used to dealing with angry customers.
I wish you the best of luck. {warm hugs}
I’ve been without any kind of heath insurance for nearly four years and I’m constantly afraid that I will get seriously sick or hurt and need medical care that I will be unable to get.
Our nation’s health care system is seriously messed up.
two words: catastrophic insurance. it’s cheap (high deductible), but it will cover your cancer or car accident. you can set up a health savings account for tax-free purchases of rx’s, eyeglasses, other supplies. and if you’re lucky (as i am) you can find a doctor who charges reasonable rates and doesn’t take insurance forms anyway. that’s how i get by.
hang in there.
Makes you wonder if paperwork is sometimes “lost” on purpose. Plus what kind of people do they have working there? Obviously morons. Good luck to you.
How unfair is that! Its not your fault that the paperwork was misfiled! I wonder if you can contact the BBB to report them for shady practices?
File formal complaints with your State’s department that governs insurance companies and your State’s Attorney General’s office (BTW – they may even have an insurance ombudsman who can assist) if you or your ex have any proof that paperork was sent in timely (hopefully sent registered mail, fax, emails, etc.)
COBRA is a real mess, but if you can prove paperwork was filed timely, there is no way they can come back on you for their expenditures, which I see as an even bigger issue than continued coverage. Your State may also offer group rates for insurance coverage for uninsured and/or hard to insure individuals. Several do. Good luck.
Ack! I feel for you. I’m still waiting for national health care. Think we’ll get it in our lifetimes?
The Department of Labor website has detailed information on COBRA:
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm
It also has detailed information on HIPPA. You should study up on these rules for when you finally get permanent insurance. Now that you’ve had a gap in coverage, you can get slapped with a pre-existing condition exclusion. Know your rights.
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/portability.htm
I’d also try contacting a living, breathing person at the department of labor. The government can sometimes be surprisingly helpful.
Contact your local Congressman. I’m pretty sure your husband’s employee broke a law or two. While in Congress, Congressmen are pretty useless, but they can be surprisingly helpful in situations like these.
Lastly, start looking into a lawyer. This should be your last resort as it costs money. But it never hurts to be prepared.
If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.
-Sem.
And jk sounds like he/she knows what he’s talking about, too.
Give ‘em hell. If you push the issue as their fault, you might be able to get the coverage.
I’ve had many a fight with health insurance issues. Keep stating your case to as many people as possible. Eventually you’ll get someone who gets and might be able to help you.
Good luck.
I’m sorry. Good luck with this.
Even if you somehow get CORBA’s window open again, I believe it’s for 18 months, not forever. It’s also pretty expensive. But you knew that.
jk’s and sem’s advice sounds pretty wise. Something’s bound to give.
It wasn’t an accident. they “lose” everyone’s paperwork. They “lost” mine for a renter’s claim, they lost my sister’s twice for her workman’s comp. claim. They do it on purpose and there’s no law against it. My sister’s stuff was faxed with a confiriming document twice and she had to go give it to the guy face to face… then they paid her $10 for her first compensation check.
Insurance companies do not act in good faith.
Hi AAG,
I sure hope that everyone on this list is gonna get out there and campaign for Obama.
He’s not perfect, but he’s the best we’ve got.
I literally weep when I read these stories. The Euros just think we’re fucking crazy.
XOXO
Chuck
hi,
in my state they have mandated health insurance. They have provided an avenue to a group plan that only costs me about 330 a month, for a fairly decent blue cross plan. here, it’s called CommonWealth health.
i’m not sure if the insurance company can come after you for old coverage, unless misunderstood you, you may want to get some legal advice.
What darkneruo said is true. Before you give up all hope, check with your state’s BCBS and see if United Healtcare is offering coverage in your state. You might also want to check with an Independent Insurace Agent who will give you quotes from all available plans in your area. COBRA would NOT be my first choice.
Document the hell outta your efforts at filing paperwork and then check into getting legal advice on the next step. Most state BAR associations will offer free consultations. Legal AID might also be another option for free or affordable legal advice. The last time I needed to have a letter written by a lawyer just the letter was only $25 and did the trick. Otherwise I don’t have anything to add.
Good Luck!
I feel for you more than a few words can say. I have fought the bureaucracy of the insurance companies repeatedly with mixed results. The tactic that makes my blood boil the most is the one you are experiencing: They drag their feet long enough so that their incompetence is rewarded by a deadline that passes and the situation always defaults in their favor.
I do not know what the solution is, (Old Testament style fire and brimstone for these companies might be a nice start!) but if people think that government involvement is suddenly going to make these fucked up companies hum with glee and efficiency, they better hope that they don’t make those comments too publicly, because those words will come back to haunt them!
I feel for you, and even though I haven’t fought this battle for several years, evidently the seething anger over the seemingly premeditated unfairness continues to percolate. Who knew!
you got good advice already about the fact that it’s their error and if you have documentation to prove how well you followed through on your end, you should push them (i did that every time i knew i was right while living in dc, with some success; refuse to get fucked over)- wanted to add, remember the phone calls are recorded, so they should have record of every call you made, which further proves that you filed in more than enough time and called to follow up and they failed. walk good.
As someone in the UK with access to the wonder that is the NHS and therefore has no need for private health cover I cannot begin to imagine what this is like for you.
I can, however, keep my fingers crossed that it all works out ok and that your health needs are not compromised by someone else’s incompetance.
p.s. Hitachi? I really want to try one of those babies. International swaggery?
1. It depends upon your state but in CA I believe cobra is pegged at 15% about the company’s rate.
2. Call your state insurance commissioners office. Particularly if you have a reasonable proof of attempted enrolls. Find out the proper agancies for filing grievances.
3. Do your googling and find out what local resources you have.
4. While you don’t actually have to do it you can threaten to sue unless they enroll you in cobra or agree to make up the difference. Failure to perform, on their part, to perform their federally mandated legal obligations should not be your ongoing problem. Explain to them that the next steps are filing a grievance with your state insurance commissioner, the labor relations board and the next correspondence will be from an attorney. The can make nice and good or they will bu using their legal insurance policy. Most companies will cave.
I’m sorry to hear about your insurance troubles; the state of healthcare coverage in the US really IS deplorable right now. Argue with COBRA until they get you covered!
Though…if all else fails and you have a Trader Joe’s nearby (and time to work there), they offer Blue Cross/Blue Shield health coverage fairly quickly, so long as you can work about 12 hours/week.
The insurance company and the liaison between said company and my father’s former place of work (he’s retired) LOST my proof-of-enrollment from my school four times, and that was before I had to go on COBRA because I’d graduated. Strangely, COBRA didn’t give my dad any trouble over enrolling me… (I have a job now but benefits don’t kick in for 3 months :/ )
I’m sorry! I know how scary it can be to worry about health insurance all the time. I’m 21 and luckily still on my father’s coverage. I have a couple health problems and an upcoming surgery. I have to send in proofs of school enrollment, tax forms, everything, every couple of WEEKS. I’m waiting for something to get lost and them to drop me.
I plan my life around health insurance & it’s such a burden sometimes.
I hop everything works out well for you….
God, how awful. To get coverage in the meantime you might consider short term insurance. I have used these folks http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/
3 times while between jobs and school. They have pretty reasonable coverage, and good customer service. Also, it’s possible to apply totally online, and get customer service by text chat. They also rate their insurers. It’s not the best insurance ever, but definitely the easiest short-term I’ve found.
It’s pretty clear that you have been majorly wronged here, and you have proof! Keep at it! Might even be worth seeing if any lawyers would give you a free or cheap consultation… I would definitely look into personal, or business org. insurance.
Good luck! Insurance is a pain in the ass.
I have years of working in medical billing and I have never had a patient with a GOOD cobra experience. Good luck.
Hey I don’t know if you’ve gotten this worked out or not.. but if not shoot me an email and I’ll give you some contact info of a man that could probably help you. I was recently in a situation where I had to find private healthcare and was being denied by. EVERYONE. It was very frustrating and scary.
Finally I found a VERY nice man who is an insurance broker who specializes in finding coverage for people who are difficult to insure. He handles the whole midwest region I believe. He had me settled within about 72 hours.
Hey AAG…this really sucks. I actually have my insurance license and have gone through the COBRA deal myself.
I’ll second what Sem said and advise you to call the Department of Labor. They were very helpful for me.
This SHOULD be correctable. Do you have any kind of proof that you submitted the paperwork on time? It’s NOT in the company’s best interest to have people on COBRA because, in most cases, the people paying the high COBRA rates are the ones that need it and have higher claims costs.
I’m not sure what pre-existing health conditions you have…I hope not many (or none). If you don’t, then you can at least get a high-deductible plan to allow for catastrophic events. Or even a reasonable deductible plan…they’ll have a waiting period for pre-existing conditions, but once you have a year under your belt, they HAVE to cover everything.
Email me if you have anymore questions, ok?
You have my total sympathy. I think the best advice is the one that said keep going to higher ups at the insurance corp but I would also advise contacting, not your Congress person but your state insurance commissioner if you think you are in the right.
I am a small business person, 22 years. I have employed up to 48 people. Our cost for insurance rose 39% last year. I used to pay 90% of my employee benefits. It’s now down to 50% because of rising costs and we are small. 70% of all American businesses are small, like us.
Because of regulation – I cannot go out and join with other small business people to combine our purchasing power to get lower insurance rates. Why? Ask the person who said campaign for Mr. Obama. I’m sure Barrak is a nice man. He has the bureaucratic mindset. That means for your benefit he (they) will set rules for your medical future.
No Choice = No Service = Higher Costs.
I didn’t mean to start this on your wonderful blog but the bottom line is more Gov’t means higher prices to the working Joan or Joe ultimately.
Can we get back to butt sex? :–)
I’ve not been around awhile.
I’m horrified by your story.
It’s nearly 3am where I am and I’ve got Al Gore on CNN. From your post I see that things are as bad as the Democrats are saying. I’m sorry but you have had 2 terms of the worst president in your country’s history and his lack of all moral authority is plunging the world into the worst economic crisis since 1990 – Bush senior, what a surprise (then it was leverage buyouts now its subprimes). I don’t know if Obama will be good but nothing could be worse.
But what is more important is what are you going to do ?
Go to the top – ask the social services and the elected person who is responsible for their organisation what they are going to do to sort out the problem they created. Remind the elected person or persons that it is an election year and likely a close race and that maybe your voting intentions could depend on what help they give you…
Kick arse, ring every day until you get answers and stick with it.
I’ll be thinking of you
I hate insurance more than anything. I got it through my girlfriend’s company (a notoriously conservative corporation, so we were surprised) but they kept pushing the window of eligibility back. Very annoying. And because I have PCOS (ovarian cysts) , I could have been denied treatment for that under the new insurance. While waiting for coverage, I had to go to the doctor for the accompanying excruciating pain. I begged him to diagnose it as ANYTHING else, please god, just don’t call it PCOS or related to that so I can get better treatment later. Nice guy that he is, he agreed.
Still annoying!!! And our current insurance is expensive and lame.
I wish I had somethign positve to tell yo uAAG, but COBRA is the suck. It has sucked my family’s back accounts dry to the tune of 1500 a month. Why are we still on it? because nobody would cover my wife (back pain and medicine for depression) or my then 2 yar old.
Not cover a 2 year old? Why you ask? He had a few months prior been in the hospital after he fell off a slide at Mom-in-Laws’ house. He was fine when we applied months later but every place told me ‘he has been in the hospital ER within the last 2 years so no go.
I said ‘in the hospital in the last 2 years? HE IS 2 YEARS.’ They did not care.
I wish I could find it hard to believe they won’t help you – but after all this. I cannot.
I hope you can find some alternative care….