Diabetic Recipes
My job will be ending sometime this summer. Consequently, I am investigating our health insurance options. Since hubby is self-employed, we have always covered the family under my work policy.
Now, I know that "health care in this country is in crisis"! I know this is a huge touchpoint for political candidates. Yes, I know all this intellectually.
Now it's PERSONAL. COBRA, offered by my employer by federal mandate, is more than a house note EVERY month. Private insurance is still pricey - more than what we paid on 2 car notes. And it carries a $2000 deductible per person. Some sloppy math later and it could be $15,000 a year before they pay any expenses for us.
Of course, there are lower deductibles with higher premiums, and a myriad of other options. You need a degree in either insurance, medicine or maybe both just to wade through the muck of details. We tried going through a broker, but he wants his own copy of my supposedly confidential medical records before we can even apply. I'm not keen on releasing 10 years of medical history to a total stranger.
And now we come to the real issues. Type 2 diabetes, obesity and a prescription for metformin. Since I might actually USE health services, like an endocrinologist appointment every 6 months, the insurance companies don't want to cover me. They won't even accept my application at my current weight!
I need to lose 25 pounds before I can even apply for any less than 4 figure premium plans. Not long ago, tobacco use took the blame for the high cost of healthcare and eventually smokers couldn't even get coverage. Enough people have quit smoking, that now they are blaming obesity for the cost of healthcare.
I did find out that my medical records say "gestational diabetes" and "impaired glucose tolerance" and NOT the "D" word. But guess what, with a prescription for metformin, it doesn't matter what the diagnosis is, I have been branded with the scarlet D.
Health and vanity have not been motivation enough to lose weight. Maybe money will be. Or maybe just the catalyst to get the 3 big motivators percolating.
Will Kim be able to stay home with her infant and pre-schooler for a year? Will the family be able to find health insurance for less than a college education? Will the kids be covered while Mom runs the risk of no coverage? Stay tuned.
I don't know what state you are from. Here are a few things to check out.
I lost my job and Ins. also. Hubby has the D word. I know were you are coming from.
First check if only your self can stay on cobra? The rest of your family can get pretty good rates on the market.
See if you state offers any kind of health ins. plans because your husband is self employed.
In Wisconsin you can be up to 300 percent over the federal poverty rate and still get coverage.
That is just a few things that I did and we did get coverage thru the state.
Rosie
Wow, Rosie, thanks for the info - I will investigate!
I feel your pain. At least COBRA is an option. When the company I worked for went under in 2001, so did the opportunity for COBRA: no company = no existing plan = nothing for ex-employees to buy into -- worse, we had been told that we could pay for the current month ourselves by writing a check to the company. They sent another payment to BCBS, but it turned out the company was in arears by a month so we paid our own coverage for the prior month, not the current one. I scrambled to find coverage. ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) used to have some available to members. If your husband is part of any co-op/guild/technology incubator, etc. there may be something there. But I paid the family rate for a couple years working as a contractor. It hurts.
Try having insurance nobody wants to take. I have been on disability for 12-13 years now and am on state medicaid and finding a dr of any real value is like looking for a polarbear in a snowstorm. It sux to have insurance nobody wants because the state only pays 80% of what the dr normally gets and it can take 6 mnths to get even that.
Hey there. . .I completely understand what you are going thru.
As far as the medicine. . .if you go to Walmart or even Target, I believe the metformin that you take is only $4.00 per prescription. I am taking glipizide because I can get it for $4.00 and Starlix would run $130.00 a month.
Are you planning to go back to work ? My understanding is that you have 63 days to get a new job and insurance so that you don't become pre-existing. That is what I am looking at as my husbands job may be coming to an end and I am self employed. . .I'm going to have to go back to work just to keep insurance running.
Another thing you might check into (don't know what state you're in) but here we have an insurance pool for those of use that are "uninsurable" (nasty word). . .believe someone mentioned medicaid also. . .since your job is coming to an end, will you be filing unemployment ? You might be able to get medicaid and food stamps to tie you over since you have small children. The only other thing I can think of (again, don't know what state) is to find a clinic that goes according to your income. . .maybe with a large university.
Keep us posted. . .
I have been without insurance for over 6 years. It has been real tough. Instead of sending the money to an insurance agency and get little or no coverage, put the money into a savings account. Also, check your annual income, you may be qualified for low cost or free prescriptions through the drug companies patient assistance programs. I have Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure. I take over 10 medications a day and the majority of them I get free. There are a couple of them I get at Wal-Mart under the $4 generic program. There are also some programs out there for $75 to $125 a month where you can get your doctor visits, procedures and meds at a discount. I have to have an echo done every year and it is a $2000 procedure. Through the discount program, it is only $850. Good Luck to you. As I said, I know it is tough!
Check to see if there is a local Builders Assn. We are in PA & the least expensive we've found is through our local (not national) assn. Any local business qualifies. You don't have to be a builder. They get co-op prices and pass them on. Also, it's worth checking into the Health Savings Accounts as well.
I hope you live in the state of New York. Then you have hope. Here in California you cannot get an individual health insurance policy if you have diabetes. Even if you have it managed properly. Go figure. I know I'm beating a dead horse but you have to vote your self interests. For me that means voting Democrat. Maybe the Republican party is the way to go but not the way I read it. Nothing else matters much if you don't have diabetes under control. All the other comments seem to be right. Metforim can be purchased at a low cost. I use Janumet which is part metforim and another drug. It is more expensive but I have my A1C down to 5.6. My docters wanted me to do insulin and I said no, I wanted to try diet, other meds and exercise. Still trying to get the time to exercise. I have Type 2 diabetes which to me is basically heart disease. I don't get where it is in America's best interest for me to not to be able to manage this chronic disease. If I can't work then I don't contribute to the tax base. I know health care isn't free and that I have responsibility to take care of myself. But in order to help myself I need help. We are either in it together or we are all going to be in trouble. Check out Georgetown University Med Info website (sorry I don't have the link) but it gives a state by state description of what your options are. Very detailed.
Since you already know your job is ending, you are probably already looking for another job. If not, you need to start. Diabetics cannot get private insurance comparable to the insurance offered by employer group health plans, in my experience, especially if you are obese. I don't know that staying home is a luxury you have available to you if you want to maintain insurance coverage. Your best bet is to search for an employer with good childcare benefits as well as insurance coverage; they do exist, though they are few and far between. You don't say what your career field is, but if you've been telecommuting, you may even be able to find another job where you can telecommute part of the time and thus have a little more home time with the kids. But if you have to put your kids into daycare in order to work and maintain insurance coverage, do it. Your health has to come first, or you won't be able to take care of your family at all, and putting your health first means having a job so that you can maintain continuous insurance coverage.
If you are unable to find another job in time, bite the bullet and opt for COBRA until you find a new job and have started coverage under their employer group policy. And if offered more than one job, accept the one with the best health insurance benefits, putting that above all other benefits. Diabetics in this country cannot afford to be without health insurance coverage. If you go without, you run a serious risk of complications unless you are able to keep your A1c below 6.0 via diet and exercise alone. I never could do this but was without coverage for several years, and I lost my kidneys. If you try to "go naked", without coverage, I'll see you at the dialysis clinic.
Thanks so much everyone! There's some great thoughts and suggestions here. I'll keep you posted. To answer some questions - I'm in Colorado and my A1C is running 5.5 - 5.8 on the metformin.
If your husband is self-employed, is he a member of your local Chamber of Commerce? If he's not already a member, maybe he could join. Many chambers have group health insurance programs for their members. A note of caution: there are national associations for self-employed people that offer health insurance to their members that are basically scams. You really have to watch out for those. If you can't continue COBRA and there isn't a local chamber program for you, hopefully your state has an insurance program for "high risk" or "uninsurable" people. We have one here in Wisconsin that my mom is on and she has been impressed with it so far. It's not cheap but it's affordable. Good luck!
I'd strongly recommend going with Cobra insurance, at least for yourself. At the end of the 18 months, by law, the insurance company that is insuring you must offer you a continuation policy and there is no pre-existing nightmares. It may not even be at as bad of a price as you think!