Well, the time has come for Chuck to either put me in a bubble or lock me in my room. My COBRA health insurance expired on July 21st and I am not eligible for any other health insurance coverage until April 2012. 8 or 9 months with NO coverage. Pretty scary. Especially since the 4 prescriptions that I take tally up to about $900 a month without insurance. That alone is enough to make me need to double up on 2 or 3 of them! LOL God forbid that I have any illness or injury that requires much medical attention. That's a long time to hold my breath and keep my fingers crossed.
Oh, yeah.....and the new deal about how insurance companies can't deny you because of "pre-existing conditions"? Well guess what? They have a way around that. Surprised? Not me. I was denied by several companies because of "height, weight, blood pressure and age". I know that it's pretty sad that I didn't lose 10 or 20 pounds for each of the 4" in height that I lost because of my back issues and subsequent surgery. It's also sad that I have had high blood pressure forEVer, but it is perfectly controlled by one itty bitty pill I take every day, and I am certainly not clear on why it's not okay to be my height and weight with controlled blood pressure at age 59....but hey, what do I know?!
One insurance agent told me about something Arkansas has called State Pool Insurance and they will provide medical insurance to anyone that has been denied insurance coverage for any reason. It's great......but the premiums are out of this world, with astronomical deductibles etc.. So we've decided to wing it and hope for the best! Then in April I will be eligible for Medicare through my Social Security.....BUT, I won't be able to get any supplemental insurance to go with my Medicare until I'm 65! What a mess.
This also means that my left hip better hold up better than my right one did, for another year! I won't even be able to get injections in my left hip to carry me over, cuz I believe they are about $1,000 plus a pop. Ah, well......hopefully it won't be an issue. This is something I must maintain positive thoughts on!!
Yesterday was the Golden Days Parade in Fairbanks and my girls, The Midnight Sun Roller Girlz, were in the parade! They all looked awesome (from the photos I have seen), but my Riley (Boom-Dot Saint) was looking especially SaSSy! And it was reported that she was SUPER sassy and showing off some trick skating for the crowd. How I wish I coulda been there!
Golden Days is a really big deal in Fairbanks that entails a week long celebration of the discovery of gold by Felix Pedro in 1902. Everyone gets involved one way or another and it's great fun for all! I'm so glad that they had such great weather and a nice sunny beautiful day for the parade this year! :). I was trying to find a good link to the parade so you could see some of what it's like, but didn't have much luck. I'll wait and post some pictures that the girlz took, I guess! They should be good, good stuff!
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Yankee Chick~ Tales of a Yankee Lost in the Ozarks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Does Chuck have any insurance through his business? If so, could you be ranked as an employee since you do the books? He might have to pay you something to prove you are an employee. Might be a way to cover some of the expenses you have. Otherwise, yes...you must take good care of yourself and not do anything crazy.
ReplyDelete@Terri
ReplyDeleteNo, he doesn't. Never needed it because I always had a good job with great benefits and he was always covered by my plan. Since he's 71, he's been on Medicare and had a supplemental for quite awhile now, so no need for it. He's so healthy, he d/*oesn't really need that! LOL Gets a physical every year and passes with flying colors {thank God!} And you've seen for yourself how active he is. Good thought, Terri, but not applicable :). The part about not doing anything crazy, however, is quite applicable! There goes another 8 months before I can even THINK of getting on Susie again. Unbelievable!!!!! So, I shall knit and read instead of skate and ride. Good grief!
You are not alone. You are about where I was ten years ago. (Well, you're a couple of years younger.) I got the Connecticut equivalent of a "pool," cost me about $12,000 a year, pretty well cleaned out my IRA. When I turned 65, they dropped me immediately.
ReplyDeleteDocument this for your representatives, local as well as federal. They danged fools don't think we need any better health coverage, as they sit in their ivory towers -- with insurance paid by US!
Oh gosh! Good luck with that. Knowing he best for you!
ReplyDelete@Captain Poolie
ReplyDeleteHuh????
@Harriet
ReplyDeleteI imagine there's a lot of it going on out there. But Chuck is willing to take a gamble rather than go with the state pool, so I shall hold my breath :)