yes that is messed up---- but cobra is a mandatory law so you should be safe in partaking the insurance.. but i very much understand your dilema-- the what ifs are enough to drive a person insane !! Sandy i am so sorry you are going through this... enough is enough already..nancyl

Nancy, the insurance part of the company says they can not send us an insurance offer because they don't know what kind he is eligible for. When asked who their contact person was in the HR dept, he said they don't have one. They go by the HR feed that comes in weekly. They did get something Sept 10, but it only said what his last day of work was, not disabled, retired, status, and they must get the official word. So they need info, that they can't even ask anyone for, because they don't talk with HR at all, just get a feed. While looking at the account today, he said, we only have one more week to send you the offer, according to your account, but have no info on what your eligibility is so we can send you.

Nancy, you have no idea what tiny part of the mess these 2 posts are. I've kept quiet about it till now, as I couldn't even raise my hand to try to explain all that was happening.

Sandy: his boss, the one who released him from work, needs to get on the phone with the Insurance Carrier or the company representative and get this straightened out. Someone at his company knows why he was released. Bruce's company released him because of disability 7 months after the stroke and I was paying COBRA the next month. Think I got the first invoice about a week after he was released. Bruce's company had long-term disability and a company who manages all of that for them, so yes, I know it was very easy for me. That is why I don't know the ins and outs like Nancy and Sting. Basically I just contacted the manager. He and his team got us through all of it.

But the one thing I do know was Bruce's boss called and said they would have to release him on October 1 due to disability and we paid our first COBRA November 1. I hope this helps in some way. Debbie

That has to be hard no matter how you look at it and I pray it all works out for you! I think a situation like that was the big thing the Obama care was trying to fix for all America!! And the pre existing conditions too! I guess we will never know for sure!

The boss has done that, but everyone is all pointing their fingers at each other, saying someone else hasn't sent them the info. I actually have the notes from this fiasco, but doubt anyone could make it thru it.

i am thinking the cobra mandates it be the same insurance he had prior to the stroke... the cost is most likley variable and that might mean what they reference as an offer... this is craziness--- one thing i do believe this is just the tip of the iceberg for you.. unfortunatley as you said you havent even put it all out there and i understand why --- time and energy consuming to write it all out--- i can tell you are a fighter -- dont be afraid to fight---and get a little dirty ...nancyl

The maddening thing is, I have canceled all Bob's PT, because I don't know if it would be paid or not, and can't risk getting stuck with the $1000s of bills myself.

I just found out the LTD got check cut cut yesterday, and 2 things I notice online:

1. the idiots did not do direct dep, so now I have to drive to another city to dep it at our bank

2. the LTD couldn't get approval because they were waiting on proof that we had buy up in 2011(!) on dis benefits (60% vs core 40% of wages). Since he had his stroke in Feb, that is not 3 months into the new year, so they needed proof that it was elected for 2011 also. I had that confirmation and sent it to her. The hr rep that was SUPPOSED to send it to her, Alison B., never did. So I look at his stub online and wonder what the word core is doing on it.. also noticing that the name AlisonB. is listed at the top of the check with the address it came from.

It never ends.

its a fulltime job just getting what is "right" --- i have been there.... believe me i do understand... its like if they make it to difficult for you - then you will just give up... keep up the good fight you will prevail !!

Sandy :

insurance companies does not make it easy for overloaded caregiver with all this. just keep your head above water & keep on pushing it, its in insurance comany's interest that caregiver gives up & they don't have to pay it for rest of survivors life, I bet insurance companies might be giving their agents incentive to approve minimum applications & throw lot of roadblocks on the legit cases so that people give up. make sure to get organised & give them fight of your life which will make life easier for both of you. you are going after what is legally yours.

Asha

Debbie, Bob's company has someone who manages all that stuff for them too... Prudential-disability and Aon Hewitt-Insurance, but it is being blocked by a contact in their corporate office who is not sending out the info they need to process. I don't know if she is really terrible at her job, or if they have let so many people go that she is trying not to go mad with all the work piled on her desk. Anyway, once I got the name, I have ratted her out to the people who are studying this case and the horrible process of how it all (doesn't) flow together.

Good for you, keep up the fight. After my stroke, I had a fight with the insurance , (my husband was carrying it,) to pay for my therapy, my right side was hit. The doctors said I needed it, but the insurance company said they would not pay for a nurse to come to my home. I could not drive and I had no one to take me, my husband had to work. While I was in the hospital, the therapy I got was good, but a nurse told me I would not get any help because I was trying to help myself too much. The system is terriable and it needs to be better. Dont give up like we did, my husband was tried and not good on paperwork, and my mind was not so good. Keep us posted.

Sandy: you go girl! I am finding, on another issue altogether, that it certainly is a strange new world. Regardless of how much work this person has, one would think that a fellow employee, who stroked, now has no job or income, who requires some paperwork; would come first. Bet that would happen if any of us here had that job, regardless of the fact that we now live with disability. We are a different generation, that is for sure.

Being the eternal optimist and Christian that I am, my thinking is she had no clue what to do and just kept pushing it aside. I remember Bruce's representative just reading the SSDI guidebook to me. Kinda funny now, but I had the same thing and had already read it! But in all fairness he did say "Debbie, I have no clue. I have never done this. We will figure it out together." So, if we have helped educate for the next poor person who needs this, guess there was a positive.

Try not to stress too much. This is so difficult and your livelihoods. So much of the future depends on the income. Just hang in there. Continue to keep hitting back. Only thing you can do. Kick back with a nice cup of tea and a good book (personally I would have a glass of wine - LOL) and start the good fight again tomorrow. Debbie

I have been sending my personal notes to his boss, naming names and even the time I spent each day, dealing with trying to get answers. There seemed to be one name where all the info stopped at. Bob's boss sent my emails to HER boss! Guess who I got a phone call from today?! The one no one could get answers from. They have a team and meetings scheduled to follow the flow and all the disconnects in their disability process, and have used me as a case study. She said I should be getting an insurance offer, perhaps by fax tomorrow! Will keep all posted !!!!

Sandy: good news. One squeaky wheel! I hate that adage, but found, like you are now, that it is true. One day you will look back on all of this and pat yourself on the back for all those you helped. Until then, keep on truckin' Debbie

Now I have to choose between cobra or retiree medical. Cobra is better coverage but will run out sooner. Retiree medical will last thru medicare. Cobra was BCBS with 100% coverage for most things, and 60 out patient therapies a year. I have no idea what would be offered for out pat. therapy on the retiree medical. How am I supposed to choose when all I know is how much it cost, but not what he will get out of it in therapy?

what about -- YOU--- what will you do for insurance when cobra runs out ??? depending on the retiree medical length of coverage - i would think it would be ongoing-- it MIGHT be the better option...nancyl

I'm wondering about what someone said about some law passing about everyone being able to get insurance in 2 years? One of those obama things I think.

The bad news is, with company insurance we start with a $500 deductible the 20% copay - which is a common set up. But since he needs so much therapy, 20% of the bill on that, 3 x a week, is massive. let alone 20% of upcoming neurologist appts and mrs/cat scans. We also have an AFO sitting in limbo, which will be all us on that bill. The other stinky part is, this time of year, it won't be long until you have to start over with the deductible in Jan. I also hear people complaining that there insurance told them they got 2 weeks of therapy, and afterward, they didn't need anymore. So that is a worry.

The cobra would pay 100% of everything, as long as we have it, but yes, be gone in 29months for me, and I believe he will go on Medicare in 2 years of disability, so will need 'back-up' insurance. So here is when I wonder about that insurance that is supposed to have been passed for everyone, that should become available in 2 years.

If not for the year thing that I'm lost on grasping everything in the picture, because of the new law that was passed last year, I think, I would definitely take cobra, because the added expense would actually work out to less than the copayments and deductibles.

I have one other thing, that I can evoke in our favor. His therapy will allow anyone who has been a 'patient' there, to pay $50 a month and use the place as a gym. So, he could go in and use the equipment he is familar with. I could do the e-stim at home. The only thing missing in this picture is the therapist that stretches his should muscles that is very painful, but helps him so much. I am aware they bill by how many different things they do to you while you are there, so am wondering if we just took the stretching part of the therapy, how much would we end up paying in co-pay.

I have discussed our insurance offers that I received yesterday, in the forum, because I thought new people coming in might see them there and it could help them decide what to do. Please read it, and give your opinion there, pros and cons, etc:

http://www.strokeboard.net/index.php?showtopic=23007

Sandy, you are correct about him going on medicare after two years of disability. He will then have his part "B" medicare premium deducted from his disability check, currently about $100 a month. You are also correct that the new health insurance law does away with pre-existing conditions for all in two years. Unfortunately, there is no free lunch, expect premiums for all to go up even faster and more than they have been. I used to sell health insurance and I can tell you that you haven't seen anything yet that will compare to the premiums then. Of course, the upcoming elections might just change it all, maybe for the better, maybe make it worse. The more politicians change the insurance laws supposedly to make it "better" the more the laws governing the insurance business become like our tax code. Hows that working out for everybody?

Today I finally made the decision on insurance. One thing that came to light that helped a lot, and was swinging me the OTHER way, was the way the papers were drawn up, it appeared that the life insurance was part of a bundle with the stinky health insurance. The stinky health insurance, you'd have to blow a gut to ever see a penny out of it. It's deductibles + monthly premiums would put it's cost right up there with the excellent Cobra insurance that paid almost everything of $209,000 medical bills that Bob has had since Feb 29. True the cobra will run out in 29 months (Soc Sec Award Letter adds 11 months to the 18months). But the stinky insurance would last forever, but you'd never get anything out of it, after paying the high premiums and deductibles. ANYWAY, as it turns out, the life insurance is connected to the LTD, and has nothing to do with whether you pick the plant insurance(stinky) or the excellent cobra. So, the decision has been made and premium paid. I feel much relief over this.....sigh of relief

I only now have to make a decision on the 401K before 2 weeks are up, whether to roll it over to our bank IRA or let the Vanguard group manage it as an IRA.

Some time between all this, I will be able to have the new anode rod that should not turn softened water into calcium, installed. I was going to have to pay, but there may be a friend coming forward to do it. Tomorrow I will start cleaning the large stacks of papers and benefit explanations off the dining table!