I've lost my health insurance

[jaysunb]

After 25 years with the same company (Healthnet) I was informed today that we had been dropped.
No notice of any sort. Went to pick up a 10 year old prescription only to be told the cost was 10x the regular amount. No $10.00 co-pay. No Nothing !

Background:

My wife is the actual subscriber having worked over 20 years for Home Savings of America and later Washington Mutual until her forced retirement 2 years ago.
We signed on w/ the COBRA setup they offered for 18 months, when that expired in Jan 09 we switched to Cal Cobra for an additional 18 months @ 10% more. We thought all was well....

After contacting the COBRA desk at Healthnet, I was informed that the new owners of Washington Mutual, Chase Bank had dropped their coverage of former employees. No notice. No explanation.

During my coverage I've had 2 heart attacks and numerous related problems including the implantation of a defibrillator and it's removal after a staph infection. I had an operation in May for an aortic aneurysm. I was told today that due to my extensive medical history that no other company was likely to pick up my coverage and if so the cost would be up wards of $3,000. per month.

It was always "other" people that were uninsured. I didn't have to worry as long as I could pay the $800.00 a month payments. Seems I was wrong.

:evilfrown:

[phantom power]

1. Yeah, but at least there isn't any bureaucrat between you and your healthcare!

:puke:

That's really terrible. And it could happen to anybody. Except Congressmen, who have socialized health care.

[steelmania75]

11. Yet, they protest against socialism.

[valerief]

14. Socialism is only for the privileged, not the needy. nt

[readmoreoften]

65. The whole point of a socialist society is that there aren't any privileged people.

That's why this isn't a socialist society, and that's why its not socialism with then capitalist government uses our tax dollars to make people who got rich suppressing our wages even richer. That's very late stage imperialism with workers getting it from both ends. Since globalization after WWII, there can't be a "socialist nation" only global socialism or global capitalism. "Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor" is only late-stage capitalism.

Social Democracy: Sweden
Socialism: whole planet from 100,000 BC to 10,000 BC, USSR 1917-1924, various communities in Latin America, etc.
State Run Capitalism with Some Social Protections: Cuba, Soviet Union after 1924, Iraq under Saddam, etc.

[GCP]

2. The faster this country gets a decent health care coverage for everybody, the better

It really sucks what happened to you and what could happen any time to any one of us.
:grouphug:

[eridani]

3. Please write your congresscritters, Obama and your newspapers on this

Tell the world!

[sueh]

63. Agreed. I'm sorry you're in this mess, jaysunb. Bastards!

Edited for spelling.

[Oregone]

4. Don't you worry your little heart

We are going to band-aid this system, oh yes we can


Sorry to hear. :(


I just signed up for free catastrophic drug insurance today (family maximum out-of-pocket expense: $1400 a year). The US needs to seriously get its head out of its ass.

[slipslidingaway]

5. So sorry...

:hug:

[pinfo]

6. c

sucks

[uppityperson]

9. bwahahahaha. Is this your new strategy?

[greguganus]

38. h

Hide his threads lol.

[Not Me]

7. jaysunb, I really feel badly for you.

I hope that you can sort this all out, and that you stay well in the meantime.
This is disturbing because Wamu was known for their benefits. It looks like Chase is much less respectful for its (inherited) retirees.

I wish good things for you.

[femmocrat]

8. So sorry, jaysunb. That is really terrible.

And how ironic that you worked for a company called "HEALTHnet".

:grr:

Please try to take care of yourself so the stress doesn't cause more medical problems. :hug:

[AirmensMom]

10. But .... but ...

health care in Canada and Europe is such a NIGHTMARE! :sarcasm:


I'm sorry this happened to you. We so badly need something to happen in this country so that people can get good health care without involving insurance bureaucrats.

[uppityperson]

12. I am sorry that this has happened to you. It sucks

I am working 2 part time jobs and about to lose my insurance also since I don't work enough in either place to get it.

It is wrong.

No explanation, no notice of a change is really is wrong. Are you in a state that has an active Insurance Commissioner? You might try contacting him/her to see if they can help at all.

[defendandprotect]

13. Bernie Sanders is collecting stories about medical care like this . . .

and I really don't see how medical care could be part of a retiree's package

and they could take it away? But I'd at least check that out?

[DailyGrind51]

15. You have powerful testimony that every legislator should hear!

Here is a great one-stop-website to make contacting leaders easy!


Contact Elected Officials

We encourage you to contact your elected officials and share your thoughts on current events and government policy. Below you'll find links to e-mail and postal addresses, and phone numbers for key elected officials.

* President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden – Send questions, comments, concerns, or well-wishes to the President or his staff.
* U.S. Senators – Search for your senators by name, state, or congressional class; and visit their websites.
* U.S. Representatives – Find contact information for your U.S. representative by typing in your zip code.
* State Governors – Select your state to access e-mail, telephone, and postal contact information for your governor.
* State Legislators – Get the names of your state legislators and other elected officials by entering your ZIP code.
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

[lindisfarne]

16. CA Managed Risk Medical Insurance Program - any chance you meet criteria? If yes,there's a wait list

so get on it immediately.
http://www.mrmib.ca.gov/MRMIB/MRMIP.html

[jaysunb]

19. Thank you..I will.

:thumbsup:

[lindisfarne]

23. Good luck. It's no consolation but CA is actually one of the better states to be in when this sort

of thing happens. Well, at least until recently, with all the budget problems.

[kjackson227]

17. So sorry to read this. Just fyi, remember that Walmart...

offers $4.00 prescriptions. Also I'm not sure whether or not this will help your situation but here's a link explaining the stimulus as it relates to COBRA. HTH :(

http://personalinsure.about.com/od/health/a/aa021809a.htm

[MichiganVote]

18. NPR had a good segment on this afternoon in Mi about this--check it out online.

[truedelphi]

20. If you do not own your own home, and if you have mostly depleted your savings

Go apply for County Medi-cal (assuming you are in Calif)

I think its correct name is CMSP.

The one benefit I have gotten for my household is that with Obama declaring ALL Counties in the USA to be emergency Counties - the County must give food stamps and medical assistance to everyone who qualifies for poverty standards. Before this proclamation of Obama's, the county workers might try and argue that if you are able bodied you need to show proof of looking for work for several months before applying. But now they cannot do that.

If one person in the household has a job, their take home has to be over $ 1600 or $ 2200 (I forget which) if it is a two person household.

So you might get help there, even if someone in your household works.

[Lars39]

22. Do you have a link for that? Or point me to where I might find it?

My brother could really use the help right now.We're in TN, though. :hi:

[truedelphi]

25. What County is your brother in?

The thing I am not familiar with is what type of health insurance TN offers to people.

But I imangine - all he needs to do is look in the phone book under Health And Social Services, and call the main Social Services number. Explain to whoever answers that he wants food samps or medical coverage or both. They will tell him who what and where as far as applying.

Usually the County lets you come in between 9 Am and 5 Pm and fill out the application. You need to bring in your ID - but the application might require you go home and fill it out as you need work dates and names of last employers, amount in your checking or savings, and other details you might not have on hand. They want Xerox copies of things like last paystub or last unemployment check, etc.

In Calif, if you want the bennies, and AFTER your application is handed over to them, you are assigned a date and time to show up. This will be for a group meeting, in which your benefits and rights to appeal, etc are all explained, with many pamplets and other material handed out. If your brother has a severe illness - one like Diabetes which is manageable only if insulin is provided, he needs to speak up and present the fact that this is an emergency. (Heart patients, cancer patients, others fall in this category.) He can be setup with everything taken care of in three days, or sooner!

I don't know that anyone needs to know which Presidential order it was - it is in effect, has been for at least eighty days, and believe me, counties do not want to have the hassle of a lawsuit becuase they refused to follow the President's order. Plus the busier a social worker is, the more likely they won't be laid off themselves - they tend to like orders like these!

[Lars39]

46. Thanks for the info, truedelphi.

Not sure he can get onto TennCare unless he gives up custody of the grandchild he's raising, but he might at least be able to get food stamps now. He was turned down for disability. :(

[truedelphi]

55. My prayers are with him and his grand baby

And thank you for looking out for them.

[truedelphi]

21. BTW I am willing to bet that the new owners of

Washington Mutual (Chase Bank) have gotten a ton of assistance from the TARP monies that you and everyone else are paying for.

[warren pease]

26. CNN says $25 Billion as of last December...

... but that's probably low. We're talking about the Corporate News Network, after all, and we don't want to spoil all that lipstick on that sow.

More sordid details here.

And as always, nobody knows where the money went...



sf

[truedelphi]

30. One of the key sentences in the article:

Critics say Congress needs to demand conditions before the second round of bailout money is distributed

Only our sordid Congress critters would find it necessary to give away 350 billion bucks with nary a condition inside it!

[warren pease]

24. You never had "health insurance"...

You were allowed to participate in another corporate shakedown that's functions exactly as any other gigantic extortion racket. You come up with your monthly protection money payments and the leg breakers agree to a) leave you alone and, b) allow you to keep most of your stuff – house, car, pre-Columbian art collection, et al -- if something serious (i.e., expensive and maybe requiring hospitalization) happens to you.

Medical insurance has nothing whatsoever to do with health care except in the twisted minds of Chicago School libertarian fanatics and profiteering free market pitchmen. Break that nonsensical, artificial link, dump the idea of for-profit medicine entirely, replace it with a single-payer, universal-access system and spread the risk over the entire population in the form of a modest, progressive tax.

Oh, and none of the above will ever happen unless the people stop begging and start DEMANDING what's already theirs as part of their American birthright. You don't plead or petition for own inalienable rights. You take them back.

And if that means every single lying incumbent has to go, then so be it and yesterday isn't soon enough.


sf

[truedelphi]

27. The shakedown is exposed yet the lying sack of

poop in the WH says we need to calm down and not be so demanding.

AL of them need to go. A s far as I am concerned, we should quite having elections, and instead use a lottery, in which everyone's name goes in the sack and from that sack we get our new Senators, new Congress critters, and new Predidnet.

The old objection to this notion was "What if these common types sellout?"

But that argument would no longer hold - even if forty per cent of them did sell out, it would be a lot less of a sell out than the almost total capitualtion we see on the Hill and in the WH.

[Laelth]

52. Hear, hear! n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[raccoon]

72. Great post. nt

[Vinca]

28. I'm sorry this happened to you - we got booted 5 years ago.

If only the people who claim to like their insurance carrier would realize what happened to you can happen to them. You're only safe if you're so fabulously wealthy you can pay for medical care out of pocket.

[Sukie]

29. Best of luck to you on tackling this issue, and in the meantime

you have my best wishes that your health improves. I still have hope that this administration will come up with the plan that will work for everyone.

[Hissyspit]

31. Welcome to the scam.

The scam is the "BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE WORLD."

Enjoy.

Seriously, though, I am very sorry to hear this, jaysunb. I hope that DUers will be able to give you some good advice on what to do in this crisis. You are not alone.

[jaysunb]

32. I found lots of good info on this thread.

I'm already making some head way toward a solution.

Many thanks to all !

[JimWis]

33. Sorry to hear that. I had a pre-existing condition for heart also.

Best quote I got after COBRA was 2,800 per month - single. Luckily I was able to qualify for Wis Health Risk Share. About 489 per month single coverage, but a high deductible. Better than nothing. Covers my drugs very well. I saw another reply that mentioned CA has a similar plan. I hope you qualify and good luck.

Notice how private insurance has forced another individual to a state public plan. Yet private insurance is against a public plan. Hmmm.

[jaysunb]

45. I think I might be able to go to VA.

I've never gotten anything after from them in the 43 years since I was discharged.

Cu Chi 65-66

Maybe it's time. :shrug:

[madrchsod]

51. you are entitled to va care....

i know quite a few people who go to the va hospitals in this area. from what i gather the hospitals are first rate.

[jaysunb]

58. I heard that too ( good VA services)

It's definitely my fallback position. :thumbsup:

[nightrain]

61. so very sorry to hear about your troubles... I hope that the

VA works out for you.

[wildflower]

34. Do you work for the state?

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I hear CA is having a lot of budget problems so I wondered if that could be part of the reason.

[ecstatic]

35. Amazing. They should at least refund the money you paid in

assuming it's more than the cost of the services you needed.

[noiretextatique]

36. sickening and terrifying

:hug: so sorry to hear that, jaysunb. i am still working for a nazi sympathizer so i can keep my coverage :puke:

[jaysunb]

71. Hey Luv

:hi:

You don't think I'd let a little thing like this kill me, do ya ? ! :rofl:

[noiretextatique]

79. hell to the nah!

:rofl: i see the endocrinologist today. on top of the big C, i might have the big D. my primary diagnosed me already, but i refuse to take the drug until i have all the tests from a specialist. one fng high glucose test and she wants to shove a drug down my throat :wtf:
wish me luck with that. i am on a diet, and if i lose some weight, i can probably avoid the drug.
dude...they can't fucking kill us!!!! :hi:

[hunter]

37. I'm so sorry.

My wife and I have been down this road.

There's been years we couldn't get health insurance after running out COBRAs.

My wife was in the CA Managed Risk Medical Insurance Program for a few years, but it took a long time to get in.

Now we've got a group plan through my wife's work, but it's pretty worthless except as catastrophic coverage, and I think it's pretty worthless as that too. If we do suffer any health catastrophe then that's it -- we'll be poor enough to get state and federal aid and the insurance company will certainly find some way to dump us long before they pay out anywhere near the amount we've paid in.

Good Luck!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

39. I am pretty sure that NO NOTICE is flat out illegal.

If it were me, I would post a notice on Craigslist and then try to get a class action suit together.

[jaysunb]

41. My lawyer friend said exactly that !

and I plan to explore that once I get some coverage.

Thanx

[DRoseDARs]

47. I am pretty sure if you read the fine print of the bailout, there was probably a clause OK'ing that.

Sue the living Hell out of them.

[Sirveri]

40. 800.00 a month? That's almost as high as my rent!

Screw that noise, no way in hell I'll pay 800/mo for shitty health care you're not suppossed to ever use.

[jaysunb]

43. Actually, Ive recieved excellent care from

HCP's. and I'm sure that Ive cost them close to a million dollars. That and my age is what makes going elswhere difficult. :shrug:

[rucky]

42. Sounds like a class action suit against Chase to me.

[jaysunb]

44. See above. n/t

[PlanetBev]

48. This is what we all fear...

and it could happen to anyone of us.

I had Melanoma in 2005. Despite the fact that they caught it early, I've been told that if I ever lost my insurance, I'd never be able to get health insurance again. I've avoided getting my cholesterol because I knew it would be high, and that's another thing they'd use against me. I just got it tested and it was 268. They doctor put me on Red Yeast Rice herbal supplement to lower the cholestrol. If it doesnt' come down in three months, then she's going to put me on statins. One more excuse they need to get me out of the healthcare system. It's a God-damned shame when you have health insurance and are afraid to use it.

I think of you often, Jaysun. Hard to believe it's already five years that we were all at that DU get-together in Van Nuys. Those DU parties helped me keep my sanity in the Bush years.

Sending you good vibes, good wishes and some of those vitural :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: eggs that you love so much!

[jaysunb]

56. Hey Bev !

good to hear from you.

I too miss our "people to people" DU. But I still see or talk w/ a lot of the old gang both here and up North.
Hey,maybe I'll call for a "summit" and you can bring your warm smile and a dozen or so of those magic eggs :rofl:

:hi:

[Brigid]

49. Exhibit # 1 trillion for why we need a single-payer system now!

How many is it going to take? :grr:

[sellitman]

50. Before Obama subsidized my Cobra Insurance we were paying $1200/MO

In Sept it goes back to that. I won't burden you all with our health needs but my son's brain tumor is probably growing back. If the next MRI concurs then we could be wiped out.

I wish someone would listen to Dennis Kucinich

[WillowTree]

53. I'm confused. How would you have been eligible for Cal-COBRA?

COBRA is Federal legislation that mandates that all insurers and self-insurers must provide the opportunity to continue coverage to employees and dependents at their own expense when they lose their eligibility for coverage under group policies (for varying lengths of time (epending on the reason for eligibility termination), but the mandate only applies to group contracts that cover 20 or more employees of one employer.

Cal-COBRA is a State mandate stipulating that group policies in California must provide the same options when the employer covers less than 20 employees. I can find nothing that would indicate that Cal-COBRA ever covers a situation where an employer has 20 or more employees (which would certainly include WaMu and Chase) or that it provides for any extention of the Federal COBRA mandate for such employers.

What am I missing here?

[jaysunb]

54. I don't know what you're missing or

what I may have left out of the OP, but here's the setup:

1) wife gets parachute from WAMU 6/07

18 months of COBRA begins in late July @ 740 per month for 2.

2) 10/08 we are notified that our COBRA plan would end in 90 days and there was an option to apply for another 18 mons under CAL COBRA w/ a 10% surcharge of the existing cost.

3) CAL COBRA informs that WAMU no longer exists & Chase did not assume responsibility for former WAMU employees. ( I was told Chase does not provide direct insurance benefits for ANY of their employees )So, BEAT IT !

Hope that clears things up.

:)

[truedelphi]

57. When you have a chance, could you write this up as a letter

To both the Calif. Senators, and your local Representative?

These peole should be looking carefully at what the beneficiaries (That is, Chase) of our TARP payments are doing to people that they should be treating with kid gloves - after all, you and your wife now owe more than $ 25K in taxes for the Bailouts (Depending on whose numbers you look at.)

Our lawmakers really need to understand that the Corporate Entity like Chase, who received at least 25 Billion from TarP, does indeed owe the people who worked for WaMu.

I think you might even get somewhere by steadfastly Approaching Barb Boxer's office. She is someone who really listens and gets things done, once a bee gets under her bonnet. It is just that you have to be the bee.

[Ms. Toad]

77. Under HIPAA you are entitled to coverage

so long as there is no gap in coverage longer than 63 days. Find an attorney or health care advocate who can help you find out how to access it - I believe the details are state specific, unless CA has opted to take the federal fall back. (They can charge you an arm and a leg - but as long as you maintain coverage you cannot be completely denied. In Ohio, "an arm and a leg" for a policy for an 18 year old is $14,000 a year.)

[mwooldri]

59. Oh boy....

I just wish I could give my passport to you...

In our family's case my UK passport is our back up medical plan. I do have pretty good coverage through work, my wife can sign up for crappy coverage, and Medicaid might cover my son (the one I'm really worried about) if we both lost our jobs. If we did totally lose coverage - all of us and a required surgery arose with my son (i.e. non emergency) then a move to the UK would be required. Of course if we had no coverage and there was an emergency then yep, Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy would be in our future.

Mark.

[mwooldri]

60. dupe pls delete nt

[Wednesdays]

62. K&R

:kick:

[dysfunctional press]

64. welcome to the real u.s.of a.

nt

[readmoreoften]

66. Best of luck and stay healthy. :(

:hug:

[mudplanet]

67. Want to know something really funny?

$800 a month is my total income. I have Medicare, but I'm in hock to the lab, a clinic, and two doctors because I can't afford to pay the "co-pay," (lab fees aren't covered, most prescriptions aren't covered or only partially covered, etc.) Ten, twenty, and seventy dollars doesn't seem like a lot until you try to live on less than some people pay on a car note.

I'm not complaining about my income (heck, my diet has actually improved now that I'm eating a lot of rice and veggies), I'm pointing out how pathetic the whole medical insurance system in this country is.

They covered you while you were young and healthy. Now you're not young and healthy, so there's too much risk they won't make money on you. It's simple business. My fantasy is that I'm in a boat after a ship sinks and all the owners of the medical insurance companies are in the water, and when they ask me to save them, I ask them what profit is in it. It's not personal, it's just business.

So two weeks ago I got this infection, went to the doctor, but had to wait til this month to be able to actually buy the medicine.

I run errands for elderly neighbors, including going to the pharmacy. While waiting for prescriptions the other day, I watched an elderly man ask the pharmacist how much it would cost to get the prescriptions on his list, and when he was told, he decided he'd get one of them and not the others. Been there, done that.

This just is not right.

Pray I don't break a tooth, 'cause then I'll truly be SOL.

[Cleita]

68. So sorry to hear about it. Get your story to Obama, John Conyers and

Dennis Kucinich ASAP! Also on the radio and TV, get your story to Ed Schultz who has been clamoring non-stop for a change in our health system and Thom Hartmann who sides with Senator Bernie Sanders about this issue. Now the time is ripe to change this. Incidentally, I dumped Chase when they took over my bank Washington Mutual. It's time to make these jerks go out of business. I signed up with a local credit union instead.

[jaysunb]

70. We went to the local credit union as well.

:hi:

[shireen]

69. please send your story to Bernie Sanders, he's collecting them

sanders.senate.gov

[ellisonz]

73. VA Calculator

http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/apps/enrollmentcalculator/

[sofa king]

74. I'm so sorry for you.

Health insurance is and always has been an elaborate shell game designed to part you and everyone else with more money while you're healthy than they will ever give you back when you're sick. We rely on them for our lives and they have no interest whatsoever in keeping us alive past profitability.

There was a day when loan-sharking, three-card monty, and "insurance" was illegal. Now, they're institutionalized and regulated by the state.

If you're lucky enough to be totally impoverished, as I am, many local governments maintain free health clinics, and once enrolled in that program hospitalization is often covered by the local government. But it's hard to qualify: I think in my county the upper income limit is $7000 for a single adult.

[inna]

75. this is just horrible. it makes me so sad for my country and so angry at the pigs at the trough....

:(

:cry:

:hug:

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

76. A prime example of why we need Single Payor

or at the very least, a viable public option.

Hard to fathom, though, that Chase does not offer benefits to its employees.

[Karenina]

78. Sending you good vibes, jaysunb

:hug: