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Murphy101

By Murphy101,
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Murphy101

Murphy101

Posted
Posted

So without notice my husband’s employer laid off entire departments today. Including his.  So bye bye health insurance for his type one diabetes. It was better than nothing while it lasted. 

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SoCal_Bear

SoCal_Bear

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm so sorry. If you are in the US and because this is an involuntary termination, right now you will have premiums 100% covered for a period of time under the American Rescue Plan because of Covid. I think it is for 6 months. The details are here. 

https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/cobra-premium-assistance-under-arp.pdf

 

Edited by calbear
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DoraBora

DoraBora

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, calbear said:

I'm so sorry. If you are in the US and because this is an involuntary termination, right now you will have premiums 100% covered for a period of time under the American Rescue Plan because of Covid. I think it is for 6 months. The details are here. 

https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/cobra-premium-assistance-under-arp.pdf

 

Thank you so much for sharing this!

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East Coast Sue

East Coast Sue

Posted
Posted

I’m so sorry. I’ve been through similar, unexpected lay offs- I was pregnant with #4. I’ll be praying for you, your dh, and your family. Tough times and important to let people know that you could use their help- Just offering this up as encouragement.

Murphy101

Murphy101

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5 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Walmart has an excellent program for diabetes medication.  Look into them.  Insulin is extremely affordable (20-25 a vial) and I was paying about 12 for a box of needles. 

Walmart does not cover his type of insulin at that rate.  And he still will need the durable medical supplies for his insulin pump or CGM. 

2 hours ago, Ordinary Shoes said:

Oklahoma finally expanded Medicaid. Do you think you guys would qualify now? Definitely check it out. 

Idk. We are of course going to look into everything we can ASAP. Which will probably be Tuesday due to the holiday. 

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Murphy101

Murphy101

Posted
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Posted

The domino effect sucks. This also removes insurance for my college daughter, and 3 sons all between ages 18-25.

And not even getting to that Dh is an only child with parents in their 70s and a 90 yo grandma. 

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Murphy101

Murphy101

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2 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

Ugh. I'm so sorry. I hope it doesn't come to that, but if you need help....

Huh? Come to what? What is the that you hope it doesn’t come to? I feel stupid at the moment. 

Tanaqui

Tanaqui

Posted
Posted

I hope you don't need any serious help, but if it happens that you do, I think we'd all be glad to chip in a little, because we know you'd do the same for us.

Certainly, please, let us all know if the situation gets dire with, like, insulin rationing.

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scholastica

scholastica

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

The domino effect sucks. This also removes insurance for my college daughter, and 3 sons all between ages 18-25.

And not even getting to that Dh is an only child with parents in their 70s and a 90 yo grandma. 

Do you have COBRA as an option, like a cushion of savings to pay for it? Definitely look into the ACA. They have changed a lot of the rules and it’s easier to get affordable coverage. I’m sorry this happened to your family. 

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Murphy101

Murphy101

Posted
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Posted
40 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

I hope you don't need any serious help, but if it happens that you do, I think we'd all be glad to chip in a little, because we know you'd do the same for us.

Certainly, please, let us all know if the situation gets dire with, like, insulin rationing.

Oh. Oh my. That is so kind. I sure hope it doesn’t come to that but it’s sure a comfort to know people care enough to help if we do need it. 🥺🥰

33 minutes ago, scholastica said:

Do you have COBRA as an option, like a cushion of savings to pay for it? Definitely look into the ACA. They have changed a lot of the rules and it’s easier to get affordable coverage. I’m sorry this happened to your family. 

Someone told us that he might qualify to have cobra 100% covered so we are going to look in to that Tuesday. I sure hope so bc otherwise there is zero chance we can afford Cobra. It’s crazy. 

33 minutes ago, Ordinary Shoes said:

You can apply online. https://oklahoma.gov/ohca/individuals/mysoonercare/apply-for-soonercare-online/step-by-step-guide.html

 

Yes and we will do that too but they may not cover my husband and they won’t cover my grown kids.  I’m *pretty sure* about that. But we will fill it all out anyways and see. 

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amyx4

amyx4

Posted
Posted (edited)

Double check this....but if he worked the first day of the month, the work insurance coverage may last the entire month. I would suggested calling his work's health insurance company, they'll know for sure.

If that's true then try and move any necessary appointments and Rx refills into this month.

Edited by amyx4
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Murphy101

Murphy101

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26 minutes ago, amyx4 said:

Double check this....but if he worked the first day of the month, the work insurance coverage may last the entire month. I would suggested calling his work's health insurance company, they'll know for sure.

If that's true then try and move any necessary appointments and Rx refills into this month.

Yes. We are getting done what we can before it runs out. But much of it the insurance won’t allow.  For example, they won’t refill anything until we are 10 days away from needing a refill.  So we will get everything filled in the largest quantity possible while we can. 

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Eos

Eos

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm so sorry to read this.  We have ACA exchange-based insurance and it does cover dd's pump supplies and CGM but with a co-pay and of course a deductible. I don't know about your state, but here we can see online which durable medical devices and insulins each type of insurance covers and with what co-pay.  The exchange website allows you to put in all of your family's info and see different price and deductible options, but having lots of kids will take a while to input!  If your COBRA isn't covered, you can get insurance right away on the exchange. The people who answer the phone and will do it for you have always been very easy to work with for me.

For non-Type 1's reading this, a CGM sensor is programmed to shut itself off after 1 week.  They cost about $75.00 each. You have to replace the pump set and reservoir every three or four days at about $20 and $10.00 each.  Two weeks of insulin is about $350.00.  Strips for the meter that work with the pump can run about .50 each, and you might use 2 - 5 a day.  Lancets for checking blood are about .20 each.

Two weeks of self-pay Type 1 diabetes with pump and CGM: about $600.00.  This is not counting the cost of a pump ($10,000.00), emergency glucagon ($250.00), the CGM sensor charger ($700.00), doctor's visits ($150.00 - $300.00 depending on what type of practitioner, twice a year) or yearly lab tests usually required to stay in the practitioner's care ($300 - $1,000).  

I am holding your family in the light.

 

Edited by Harpymom
too early to spell, apparently
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Murphy101

Murphy101

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11 hours ago, Harpymom said:

I'm so sorry to read this.  We have ACA exchange-based insurance and it does cover dd's pump supplies and CGM but with a co-pay and of course a deductible. I don't know about your state, but here we can see online which durable medical devices and insulins each type of insurance covers and with what co-pay.  The exchange website allows you to put in all of your family's info and see different price and deductible options, but having lots of kids will take a while to input!  If your COBRA isn't covered, you can get insurance right away on the exchange. The people who answer the phone and will do it for you have always been very easy to work with for me.

For non-Type 1's reading this, a CGM sensor is programmed to shut itself off after 1 week.  They cost about $75.00 each. You have to replace the pump set and reservoir every three or four days at about $20 and $10.00 each.  Two weeks of insulin is about $350.00.  Strips for the meter that work with the pump can run about .50 each, and you might use 2 - 5 a day.  Lancets for checking blood are about .20 each.

Two weeks of self-pay Type 1 diabetes with pump and CGM: about $600.00.  This is not counting the cost of a pump ($10,000.00), emergency glucagon ($250.00), the CGM sensor charger ($700.00), doctor's visits ($150.00 - $300.00 depending on what type of practitioner, twice a year) or yearly lab tests usually required to stay in the practitioner's care ($300 - $1,000).  

I am holding your family in the light.

 

His pump and sensor don’t work exactly like you describe.  But yeah point being keeping a type 1 diabetic alive and functioning is expensive in the USofA. 

sensors are $340 a month (switched every 10 days) 

transmitters are $245 a month (switched every 3 months)

pump supplies are $275 a month (every 3 days)

insulin is $30 a month thanks to a new Oklahoma law as of April 2021 that caps the cost of insulin to $30 a month no matter the type or quantity of your insulin.

glucose strips are $10 but last him a very long time now that he doesn’t have to ever use them unless his sensor has a problem of some kind. 

He used to have a Medtronic pump and sensor that were awful for him compared to his experience on the Tandem t-slim x2 and Dexcom 6 sensor. His a1c is now a 5.5 and his sugars are staying between 75-120 almost constantly.  He LOVES everything about this CGM whereas he absolutely hated the other one. Night and day results within 2 months of switching to this system. And yeah. We went into some debt for it. The tandem was $10,600 for some dumbass reason I forget not covered the same so our portion was a little over $4k.  Worth every single penny though for the healthier results.  And since stress is a HUGE factor in blood sugars, having the better system is even more important now. 

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Eos

Eos

Posted
Posted

Dd has a Medtronic, but we've heard the Dexcom 6 is the way to go.  We borrowed the money from a friend with zero regrets.  And Go Oklahoma! with the forward-thinking insulin regs.  

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Longtime Lurker

Longtime Lurker

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 7/2/2021 at 12:26 PM, calbear said:

I'm so sorry. If you are in the US and because this is an involuntary termination, right now you will have premiums 100% covered for a period of time under the American Rescue Plan because of Covid. I think it is for 6 months. The details are here. 

https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/EBSA/about-ebsa/our-activities/resource-center/faqs/cobra-premium-assistance-under-arp.pdf

 

The premium-free COBRA goes through September 30. Also, anyone approved to receive even a single week of unemployment during 2021 can get premium-free insurance through the ACA marketplace for their entire household for the rest of the year. You can do the COBRA first and then the marketplace plan, or you can go directly to the marketplace plan.

Edited by Longtime Lurker
typo
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Scarlett

Scarlett

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, Longtime Lurker said:

The premium-free COBRA goes through September 30. Also, anyone approved to receive even a single week of unemployment during 2021 can get premium-free insurance through the ACA marketplace for their entire household for the rest of the year. You can do the COBRA first and then the marketplace plan, or you can go directly to the marketplace plan.

That is amazing!

Longtime Lurker

Longtime Lurker

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, Longtime Lurker said:

The premium-free COBRA goes through September 30. Also, anyone approved to receive even a single week of unemployment during 2021 can get premium-free insurance through the ACA marketplace for their entire household for the rest of the year. You can do the COBRA first and then the marketplace plan, or you can go directly to the marketplace plan.

You can decline COBRA if you choose to and still receive the premium-free ACA marketplace insurance. However, if you do the free COBRA through Sept. 30, you may have to then wait until the next open enrollment period to start the ACA marketplace insurance (unless the end of the free COBRA generates a special enrollment period which it might). If you decline the COBRA, the ACA marketplace has open enrollment through August 15 (thanks to the American Rescue Plan). Also, any time anyone loses a job, you have a special enrollment period (60 days?). 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Murphy101

Murphy101

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Posted

It’s been a rough week. 72 applications later my husband has gotten 5 responses and 2 interviews.  This is the good news.  He is really frustrated with how many companies are putting out unicorn ads. A masters degree and 20 year experience in ____ program (that’s only existed for 5 yrs) and salary pay below 50k.  The number of places that say they are hiring remote workers but insist on moving to their city is also a problem.  Travel there occasionally? Okay. Move? For a job he does from home? Just… why?  Some of these jobs are even contract jobs. Why would a contractor commit to moving?

Anyways.

On a happier note. Remember my puppy Cookie?  Um. She’s grown a lil bit. And whatever mutt breed mix she is, one of them apparently has a zigzag mohair hackles.  We are amused and have no idea how to explain her when trying to book her in at the groomers. 😆 Cookie is about a year old now.
 

 

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katilac

katilac

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

The number of places that say they are hiring remote workers but insist on moving to their city is also a problem.  Travel there occasionally? Okay. Move? For a job he does from home? Just… why?  Some of these jobs are even contract jobs. Why would a contractor commit to moving.

Maybe just agree to this for now; if he gets the job, he can just get a local address from the UPS store. He might have to plan on an Airbnb for a few weeks until he figures out the rhytm of when they want him to come in for meetings and so forth. 

Murphy101

Murphy101

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9 minutes ago, katilac said:

Maybe just agree to this for now; if he gets the job, he can just get a local address from the UPS store. He might have to plan on an Airbnb for a few weeks until he figures out the rhytm of when they want him to come in for meetings and so forth. 

Except that’s not likely to work and is likely to cost a lot of money for a job that doesn’t pay enough to cover the additional expense of all that. 

My husband says he wonders if it’s code for “we say we want remote workers but we also want to call them in for meetings constantly that anyone could manage with an email”.  🤷‍♀️

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