CANCER AND DISABILITY&ADVICE.

nubis
nubis Member Posts: 98
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My husband is receiving a letter for his job about his disability. He needs to return before October 14th to keep his job and of course the insurance. (1 year of being out of working)They want to know if he is gonna take the disability of the social security or if he will return to his job. He was planning to returned on this month but the CTSCAN showed the new tumors (when all was working good).
My husband wants to return but the problem is that he will receive a second quimo and he will be on treatment at the time he needs to return. What do we need to do? Somebody with the same situation? Thank you.

Comments

  • jagged
    jagged Member Posts: 55
    #2
    Disability and insurance
    Nubis,

    My situation is different, but I can speak from my own situation, nothing official. Please do talk with your doctor and their staff to see if they believe Social Security Disability is an option. They will likely have additional information too.

    The Social Security Disability benefit does not just kick in. You have to apply and it will take a while to get (6 months and more). There are some strong advantages to getting on the Social Security Disability: 1) Medicare coverage, and 2) to lock in the benefit monies at your current income level.

    Given your husband's insurance ends in a little over a month, it is best if he can get back to work for a period of time. You should verify with the insurance how long he must work before he qualifies for the insurance again. For example, my insurance, I work 6 weeks and requalify for another 6 months. This becomes kind of a game, but unfortunately often neccessary.

    In this process, rest assured that there are Disability Laws which protect your husband and his job security. There are also programs like the Family Leave Management Act (FLMA) where he could take short unpaid breaks and still have his job security. That can help for the rough days following treatment days. The Human Resources group where he works can provide more information.

    Good luck to you and your journy.

    --jag

    PS:
    I forgot to add one piece of information. Insurance companies do not make money by giving money away. There are repitable insurance companies and some not so. It is critical that you research your specific insurance requirements. For example with the FMLA above, if he uses FMLA would that disqualify him of the new insurance disability claim. This is a time to dot all I's and cross all T's. Research, research, research.
  • lindy3
    lindy3 Member Posts: 12
    #3
    Dear Nubis,
    Jagged is so
    Dear Nubis,

    Jagged is so right! Speak to your husband's doctors and ask what they advise. It does take five months to get on Social Security Disability but once you are disabled for two years you go on Medicare. Until then you might qualify for Cobra coverage and pay for the insurance until Medicare kicks in. Either way, speak to the doctors and then the human resources department at your husband's job. This way you should be on the right track. Good Luck

    Lindy
  • nubis
    nubis Member Posts: 98
    #4
    lindy3 said:

    Dear Nubis,
    Jagged is so
    Dear Nubis,

    Jagged is so right! Speak to your husband's doctors and ask what they advise. It does take five months to get on Social Security Disability but once you are disabled for two years you go on Medicare. Until then you might qualify for Cobra coverage and pay for the insurance until Medicare kicks in. Either way, speak to the doctors and then the human resources department at your husband's job. This way you should be on the right track. Good Luck

    Lindy

    IT HELP ME
    Thank you, Thank you both for your advice!!!!. I'm working on it. I talked to our doctor and the human resources depto. and There are good news. I will keep you informed as soon as I have more details.

    Thanks.
  • hansie
    hansie Member Posts: 37
    #5
    hey nubis we meet again.My
    hey nubis we meet again.My wife's job gave her the same thing at 1 year.First he needs to apply for social security NOW because like others said it takes 4 months to kick in.Then talk to his insurer...there is a law called cobra that says he can keep his benefits for up to 2 more years but has to pay for them.Be careful,make sure the insurance co gets a check BEFORE the coverage ends...trying to re-insure him once hes not covered will be real expensive.Our situation was that my whole familys insurance came through her job. We ended up cobra-ing her benefits(costs us about 450 a month,everyones diffrent)put the kids in a state insurance fund and i am going to get coverage through my boss. I cant stress enough not to let his coverage lapse because he has an existing condition and it will be incredibly expencive for you to get another policy if the one you have ends.
  • jagged
    jagged Member Posts: 55
    #6
    hansie said:

    hey nubis we meet again.My
    hey nubis we meet again.My wife's job gave her the same thing at 1 year.First he needs to apply for social security NOW because like others said it takes 4 months to kick in.Then talk to his insurer...there is a law called cobra that says he can keep his benefits for up to 2 more years but has to pay for them.Be careful,make sure the insurance co gets a check BEFORE the coverage ends...trying to re-insure him once hes not covered will be real expensive.Our situation was that my whole familys insurance came through her job. We ended up cobra-ing her benefits(costs us about 450 a month,everyones diffrent)put the kids in a state insurance fund and i am going to get coverage through my boss. I cant stress enough not to let his coverage lapse because he has an existing condition and it will be incredibly expencive for you to get another policy if the one you have ends.

    COBRA
    This is so true! That COBRA payment goes out before the house payment, before they even bill you for the month!
  • handle
    handle Member Posts: 31 Member
    #7
    jagged said:

    COBRA
    This is so true! That COBRA payment goes out before the house payment, before they even bill you for the month!

    cobra insurance
    You also have to watch cobra ,because they will not send you a bill and hope you lapse. I have a friend they tried this on, he by chance caught it and asked why no invoice or bill and they said they don't have to send one . If he wouldn't have caught this, they would have canceled him. Mike
  • jagged
    jagged Member Posts: 55
    #8
    handle said:

    cobra insurance
    You also have to watch cobra ,because they will not send you a bill and hope you lapse. I have a friend they tried this on, he by chance caught it and asked why no invoice or bill and they said they don't have to send one . If he wouldn't have caught this, they would have canceled him. Mike

    COBRA
    This exact thing happened to a friend who had had cancer. They cancelled her in a heartbeat. No slack at all.

    She got a catastophic health insurance until she finds work.
  • slickwilly
    slickwilly Member Posts: 334 Member
    #9
    jagged said:

    COBRA
    This exact thing happened to a friend who had had cancer. They cancelled her in a heartbeat. No slack at all.

    She got a catastophic health insurance until she finds work.

    Social Security
    I wish I could tell you that absolutely Social Security might kick in in 4-6 months. But its not uncommon for it to take 16 months. Sometimes they just keep denying cases so they have to go throught the whole system. Its quite frustrating when you fight 16 months and end up in front of a Federal Judge only to be approved in 10 minutes. In my case he back paid me to the day my doctor put me off work. The State of Michigan approved my disability in 2 months as I worked for them. Apply as soon as you can and good luck. Keep on top of things as they just love time limits like those you are dealing with on insurance. Keep copies of everything you send out. For a couple months I had to pay for my own insurance. Imagine spending $1500 a month for insurance while your fighting cancer and driving all over the country to hospitals and doctors. It was not a good time in my life to say the least. Keep fighting

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