OBIO
June 19th, 2009, 13:04
As many of you may already know, my wife, Deb, had a very large tumor removed from her brain last August. Still on the mend and doing rather well considering the size of the tumor. In mid-April, her employment with the hospital she worked at ended due to her not being able to return to work by that date...and thus, at the end of April her insurance coverage ended. We were told that we could continue her coverage under COBRA for $502 a month, which was more than we could afford, regardless of how much sacrificing we did.
Then, come the middle of May, we get a package from the insurance company stating that President Obama signed into law the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and that Deb may be eligible for a government subsidy that would reduce the monthly COBRA premium by 66%...down to $164 a month. For a few days, we read and reread the paperwork, crunched numbers again and again. Then we sent in the paper work to see if she was eligible for the subsidy.
Then comes the first week of June and we receive an evelope with payment coupons showing the monthly premium of $163 and some change. About this same time, we find out that Deb's monthly disability insurance pay will be reduced by $400, that she is being sued by a credit card company for a card that she did not have (turns out her ex-husband had gotten the card using her information without her knowing about it) so I had to scramble and set up a payment plan to prevent the seizure and auction of what little personal property we do have to pay the balance, setting up payment plans for a number of outstanding medical bills not covered by her insurance....basically our income for the month went down $400 while monthly expenses went up by roughly $500.
We tighten our belts even more, somehow manage to cover all our monthly expenses and still have a bit of money left over for groceries...but no money to buy Deb anything for her birthday.
Then today we find out that the payment we sent in for June's insurance was not actually for June...it was for May and that we still have to send in another $164 for June's premium. What the insurance company did not clearly spell out in the paperwork, and that according to them they are not allowed to clearly spell out, is the fact under ARRA, we have to pay the monthly premiums beginning when normal insurance coverage ended, which was April 30. So, unbeknownst to us, we had to pay May's premium, even though we did not know for sure that Deb qualified for the ARRA subsidy until the first part of June, did not receive any payment information until the first part of June.
So, know we are faced with the fact that:
A) we sent in $163 and some change to pay for a month of insurace for a month that had ended before we even sent in the payment.
B) we have to somehow manage to pull another $163 and some change out of thin air and send it in to pay for June's coverage.
And just when you begin thinking that for the first time in history the US Federal Government has done something to benefit the average, working class American....you find out they have actually just found another way to bend you over the barrel and stick it to you.
OBIO
Then, come the middle of May, we get a package from the insurance company stating that President Obama signed into law the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and that Deb may be eligible for a government subsidy that would reduce the monthly COBRA premium by 66%...down to $164 a month. For a few days, we read and reread the paperwork, crunched numbers again and again. Then we sent in the paper work to see if she was eligible for the subsidy.
Then comes the first week of June and we receive an evelope with payment coupons showing the monthly premium of $163 and some change. About this same time, we find out that Deb's monthly disability insurance pay will be reduced by $400, that she is being sued by a credit card company for a card that she did not have (turns out her ex-husband had gotten the card using her information without her knowing about it) so I had to scramble and set up a payment plan to prevent the seizure and auction of what little personal property we do have to pay the balance, setting up payment plans for a number of outstanding medical bills not covered by her insurance....basically our income for the month went down $400 while monthly expenses went up by roughly $500.
We tighten our belts even more, somehow manage to cover all our monthly expenses and still have a bit of money left over for groceries...but no money to buy Deb anything for her birthday.
Then today we find out that the payment we sent in for June's insurance was not actually for June...it was for May and that we still have to send in another $164 for June's premium. What the insurance company did not clearly spell out in the paperwork, and that according to them they are not allowed to clearly spell out, is the fact under ARRA, we have to pay the monthly premiums beginning when normal insurance coverage ended, which was April 30. So, unbeknownst to us, we had to pay May's premium, even though we did not know for sure that Deb qualified for the ARRA subsidy until the first part of June, did not receive any payment information until the first part of June.
So, know we are faced with the fact that:
A) we sent in $163 and some change to pay for a month of insurace for a month that had ended before we even sent in the payment.
B) we have to somehow manage to pull another $163 and some change out of thin air and send it in to pay for June's coverage.
And just when you begin thinking that for the first time in history the US Federal Government has done something to benefit the average, working class American....you find out they have actually just found another way to bend you over the barrel and stick it to you.
OBIO