Insurance Blues

December 3, 2015 

Well Hello there!  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is now getting ready for Ole Saint Nick!

Here is our Kniola 2015 Thanksgiving pic.  My boys are growing so fast!  Before you know it, I’ll be the shortest of them all.  Won’t that be a hoot!

Thanksgiving 2015

Unfortunately, on this day I was sick as a dog. We celebrated at my sisters, but I lasted about the time for this picture and was home in bed the rest of the day.  I have been hit with the double wammy of an infection and the flu all in one shot. Total bummer for the Holidays.  But being sick without health insurance is what I want to write about today.  And yes, thankfully I have been to the doctor, and as of today, I am getting close to feeling normal again.

As most of my readers know, I was married 21 years, but divorced back in 2014.  For all my life, I never went without health insurance.  I kept up on everything.  From full physical’s, mammograms, to paps-meres. All just to make sure I stay healthy.  And healthy I was.

Then came Obamacare.  The only good thing I can say about Obamacare is they take pre-existing conditions and your kids can stay on your policy until the age of 26.  The rest can go to hell!  I am a perfect example of those who are now unable to afford it altogether.  So now I have to search other ways to figure out how am I going to stay healthy and not go broke doing it.  Thankfully, all the boys are covered under their Dad ’til the age of 26, so I’m good there.

Fortunately, I have been living off my child support and alimony, along with a part time job I’ve had for almost 3 years. I lost that job last week due to the fact they wanted my position full time and that is one thing I cannot do. So I finished training my replacement last week and here I am. Jobless.
The three days a week I did work and taking care of the four boys was more than enough.  I handled it well.  That part time work supplemented my income and it still needs to. I have a little saved right now, but do have some plans ahead towards a job.  A plan to continue part time work at least until my youngest starts high school.  By then, I will have two in college and one almost ready to go into college.  Full time will have to be a must by then if I want to be able to afford any college for the boys.  And since my identity was stolen this past year, I have yet to get any grants or scholarships for my oldest son.  So I am paying full amount out of pocket.  He plans on working to pay back, and he will.

So back to my health.

For the past 2 years since the divorce, whenever I get sick, I do whatever I can at home to take care of myself.  I am big on Echinacea and Vitamin C,  probiotics, and whatever else over the counter that I may need.  And  these past few months, I seem to be sick all the time.  I swear to God, since I came back from a trip overseas with my friend, I have never been the same again.  I told my kids that ISIS slipped something in my drink so I could bring it back to the US.  Not funny but funny.

My immune system all my life has been phenomenal.  I used to get sick once every few years if I was lucky.  But like I said lately, it’s pretty much on and off alot.  Thankfully I have a discount card thru the National Prescription Savings Network and that helps me out when needed.  And my regular doctor has been very kind to me and gave me many breaks on my visits.  Thank you Dr. Arocho!

I did not sign up for Obamacare when the time came because even then my insurance cost would be $275 per month.  So last year I took the penalty mandated and paid $224.  Yeah, a single mother of four boys that can’t afford insurance now has to pay the government because she didn’t sign up. 

Makes my blood boil!

It’s their way of slapping my hand and pushing me to get insurance.  Or maybe they just keep smiling at the non insured, reaping the benefits of the mandated penalties.   My penalty will double next year I am sure, so I decided to try and get Medicaid for myself and here is the outcome of that.

When you divorce, you become poor. You may have equity in your home or other assets, but really, that’s just on paper and best untouched. So you get by the best you can.

Since I became sick again this past week, I knew I had to go into the doctor.  I could not shake what I had.  I called my other doctors office and I asked what would it cost for a visit since I did not have insurance. They were kind enough to guide me to try and apply for Medicaid, and if I could not get that, to bring in my last four paychecks in and they would start me on a sliding scale based on my income.  And that’s exactly what I did and I am so grateful of their help too. My visit yesterday for both the doctor and meds were $55.  I got lucky.

Prior to this visit, I went ahead and applied for Medicaid. And guess what?  I was eligible for free or low cost health care.  “Yippee”, I said to myself.  Then as I continued to read, my smile went straight to a frown. .  The next line read; However, the state of Florida has chosen not to offer you health coverage at this time.

The second paragraph read;  You won’t owe a fee for not having health coverage. This is because of your income, and because the state of FL declined to expand Medicaid to cover individuals in your situation. When you file your tax return, you’ll need to enter the Exemption Certification Number (ECN) shown in the “Results” column below.

What!?  But I am in a situation! It just said I am eligible and the next thing it said I can’t have it. 

What the hell is going on here?  I am so frustrated at this point.
So it said my next step was to “Click here”. Directing me to the Marketplace to sign up for insurance.   I’ll tell you where to click it Governor Rick Scott!  This is all your doing in my opinion. 

All the Medicaid money that is flowing thru Naples for individuals such as myself, is flowing to everywhere else in the state.

I clicked on it anyway just to see what they would offer an eligible Medicaid recipient. Certainly no discounts for me!  It goes on to show you five plans.  The Catastrophic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum.  I of course would have to go under the catastrophic, because it’s the least expensive and only covers 60% cost of care.  And that is $325.37 a month!  Oh my God!  This is so bad I don’t even know what to say anymore.  And more than likely none of my doctors are on it nor any local hospitals.

With all said and done, I simply have to sit tight and stay as healthy as I can and make a few phone calls about being declined Medicaid. Yes, I wont have to pay the penalty this up and coming tax year. I’ll give them that, but come on!  This whole thing stinks!

Just a few weeks ago United Health group is pulling out of Obamacare and I am sure a trail of more companies will follow their lead.  It’s losing them money because it’s the sick that are signing up.  It’s ending up costing them more money that it would if healthy people sign up.  And that would end up being me as well if I end up in the hospital. I will be signing up on my death bed if need be.  I would have no other choice.

So there ya have it.  Thank you Obamacare. So now if I get deathly sick or end up in the hospital from anything like a broken bone to cancer, it means I could lose my house and everything that goes with it.  What a great deal us Americans got.

Sad really.