Brat1

Oh, I've been such an idiot, so need some advice.

Long story short, we've switched our health insurance twice since moving here, currently I'm with United Healthcare/Golden Rule. As you guys will probably know, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier in the year,a non malignant brain tumor which I'm not receiving any treatment for apart from over the counter pain medication. They have now told me that I am being refused further coverage because of my "history of pineocytoma"......

So after I had a nervous breakdown, gave myself a slap and pulled myself back together, I did some looking about, and got in touch with an agent for Aetna and Anthem I think it was, and have been told by their underwriters, that I will not be covered either. His suggestion was the State pool which will cost me - wait for it - $1500 a month which I can't afford. So, does anyone out there know of any other options as I'm going to end up being uninsured, they've told me they won't even cover a short term plan until I get sorted out - so once again, it's STRESSED.COM!!! This, on top of all the hassle of our house move, which is supposed to close next Monday, I'm beginning to wonder if I did something in previous life If we had the GC through and I was working, this would not be such a big deal and I could afford an expensive plan, but since I can't work yet, it's all putting a strain on not only my sanity, but also the family as I'm a grumpy git at the present time.

Thanks for listening, feel better already just writing it down

1chumly

I am so sorry you are still battling this. Have you read the thread 'Advice on medical visit'? It is about pre-existing conditions and may be of some help, I don't know. Good luck to you anyway.

Nutmegger

Have sent you contact info on my broker -- hope he can help. He can give you the broad picture, as he doesn't work for any specific company.

Michael

Have you looked into getting on your husbands companies group health insurance? Does that policy have a preexisting conditions clause and if it does, will preexisting conditions be covered after a period of time?

Giantaxe

I still don't understand your situation. Remind me, doesn't your husband have health insurance through his company? You really need to get on a group policy, pretty much regardless of cost. Otherwise, you're going to be stuck with this pre-existing condition problem until 2014 (and indefinitely, if the Supreme Court throws out the ACA aka "Obamacare").

ian-mstm

I'm just going to toss out a few suggestions. Feel free to act or or ignore any or all of them!

1) Sue the insurance company for breach of contract.
2) Contact the local media and tell them what happened. Suggest to them that it'd make a good human interst story!
3) Repeat #2, but with the national media!
4) Contact another insurance company and tell them what you've done to the first guys!

Ian

SanDiegogirl

Get onto your husband's group insurance. It must, surely, be cheaper than the State one.

Bob

Sign up for new plans will be going on now I'd imagine, so get in on the OH's plan regardless of the cost?

That or move to a neighbouring state that has better pool options?

MA won't help I don't think as you'd need to be residents of the state for 12 months before getting in on the state pool, but that would then be $400 a month though the levels of cover can be a bit iffy, though you won't have pre-existing to worry about.

How far off are greencards? You move back to the UK temporarily till greencards are closer to happening?

Brat1

Okay, have written to the insurance company to appeal and have told them that I'm sending a copy of the letter to the Health Care Commissioner.

My OH has got a group policy, I don't know if it covers pre-existing, so I will have to find that out tonight. The only problem is, there is a limit as to how much I can afford to fork out a month on insurance. We only have the one salary coming in and only have a certain amount of spare cash, until the GC hopefully, if ever, come through. We are still at least a year away at this point, if the Visa Bulletin is anything to go by. Moving back to the UK, not an option, I am not uprooting the kids again at this point in time and my OH is needed at his work. I'm wondering if the insurance through his work would be cheaper if it was just me on it, and get the kids on a private plan, or does that make no sense at all?? And just another quick question, how do people with conditions like asthma, diabetes, epilepsy get insurance??? I thought I'd got to grips with this whole health insurance thing, but obviously not.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions guys, I need to keep plodding along. So far turned down by 3 insurance companies, and if I'm reading the State pool correctly, you have to be uninsured for at least 180 days in order to get on it, either that or I need to renew my glasses

Thanks again, as always, your input is much appreciated.

Giantaxe

Imo, you can't afford not to have insurance given your situation, especially as you now have a fixed asset that a creditor could come after.

If they don't have access to a group policy through employment, they often pay $$$s or are either underinsured/uninsured. Welcome to the "best medical system in the world".

Bob

I was just thinking of you moving back temporarily, not the family. It's shit, obviously, but it's a solution to the cost.

As for sick folks, well they get a job, they don't ever leave and are trapped by the insurance and become miserable alcoholics. Well you get the idea....not such a free flowing market forces as it all appears.

Michael

No matter what it costs, you should get employers employers insurance for everyone. Once you on an employers health insurance, you normally don't have any of the issues that you currently have since typically they can't cancel, claim preexisting conditions at a later date, etc. and any additional cost for care of any individual just causes the employers and others on the policy to increase. On individual policies, many states allow insurance companies to do whatever they desire to save money and therefore individual policies are risky at best but employers health insurance is far more regulated and therefore usually not very risky.

If you are lucky, the employer has young healthy employees and dependents and therefore rates are low.

Your original mistake was to get an individual policy instead of the employer policy and now you may not be able to get on the employee health insurance until the next open enrollment period occurs (hopefully it is now since many companies have open enrollment at the end of the year).

scrubbedexpat099

This is sounding very familiar to a thread some months back.

Access to a Corporate Group Plan, well it is a no brainer.

scrubbedexpat099

Would that not be akin to complaining that you could not find anyone to insure your burning house?

And is it news?

Brat1

I'm looking into the Corporate Group Plan that his employers provide, I'm just really surprised that as soon as you're diagnosed with a "condition", especially one for which I am not receiving treatment/meds for, the insurance companies can just turn around and say that they won't cover you. Especially as in the State of Connecticut, if you have continuous coverage, they are not supposed to be able to turn you down for insurance, according to my neighbour who has been through all of this with her son who had cancer several years ago. I always knew that health insurance was a minefield before we moved over here, but it's turned out to be far more complicated than I ever imagined. I just wish we could get to the point of having the ability for me to work, and then this would not be as much of an issue. Thanks for everyone's input and sorry if I come across as making an issue out of something that the answers staring me in the face, I was just trying to work out if there were any other options that I didn't know about. Thanks again.