Stage IV and Losing Health Insurance. Any options?

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John_32
John_32 Member Posts: 71
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
My mother is about to lose her private health insurance. Even though my parents have no assets and are about to move in with my grandmother, and their only income is the $190/wk unemployment she gets, she cannot get medicaid because she was diagnosed more than three months ago and is not "permanently and totally disabled." Does anyone know of any other options for health insurance for her?

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  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #2
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    Hi John! I am so sorry that
    Hi John! I am so sorry that your Mother has to worry about insurance. I would say contact the American Cancer Society first and see what they say. I am sure they will lead you in the right direction. Also, another Stage IV bc survivor on here said she gets SS disability. You might check into that too. I am pasting some other sites that might help too. Good luck!

    Sue :)

    CancerFinancial Assistance Coalition (CFAC)
    www.cancerfac.org/

    Healthwell
    www.healthwellfoundation.org

    CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation
    www.cancercarecopay.org/

    National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
    www.naic.org
  • cookie97
    cookie97 Member Posts: 200
    #3
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    Ritzy said:

    Hi John! I am so sorry that
    Hi John! I am so sorry that your Mother has to worry about insurance. I would say contact the American Cancer Society first and see what they say. I am sure they will lead you in the right direction. Also, another Stage IV bc survivor on here said she gets SS disability. You might check into that too. I am pasting some other sites that might help too. Good luck!

    Sue :)

    CancerFinancial Assistance Coalition (CFAC)
    www.cancerfac.org/

    Healthwell
    www.healthwellfoundation.org

    CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation
    www.cancercarecopay.org/

    National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
    www.naic.org

    Hope this helps
    I found this on another board, I hope it helps.
    Thanks to all that have participated in these topics and put some real great info out there for us!

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/746825?page=6#idx_166 Accelerated Life Insurance Benefits Thread

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/752493 More on Accelerated Benefits

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/424992?page=25#idx_732 SSDI Thread

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/752264?page=1#idx_5 Working and SSDI

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/751403 Working and being dx'd stage iv

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/757449?page=1#idx_2 Compassionate Allowances for SSDI

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/756292?page=1#idx_13 SSDI and LTD Insurance - How it Works

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/753806 Insurance - Cobra

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/753389?page=1#idx_9 Long Term Disability

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/62/topic/735716?page=2#idx_31 Abbreviations for Newbies
  • pinkflutterby
    pinkflutterby Member Posts: 615 Member
    #4
    Options
    cookie97 said:

    Hope this helps
    I found this on another board, I hope it helps.
    Thanks to all that have participated in these topics and put some real great info out there for us!

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/746825?page=6#idx_166 Accelerated Life Insurance Benefits Thread

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/752493 More on Accelerated Benefits

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/424992?page=25#idx_732 SSDI Thread

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/752264?page=1#idx_5 Working and SSDI

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/751403 Working and being dx'd stage iv

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/757449?page=1#idx_2 Compassionate Allowances for SSDI

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/756292?page=1#idx_13 SSDI and LTD Insurance - How it Works

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/753806 Insurance - Cobra

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topic/753389?page=1#idx_9 Long Term Disability

    http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/62/topic/735716?page=2#idx_31 Abbreviations for Newbies

    try BCCCP its part of
    try BCCCP its part of medicade but its easier to get.
  • roseann4
    roseann4 Member Posts: 992 Member
    #5
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    pinkflutterby said:

    try BCCCP its part of
    try BCCCP its part of medicade but its easier to get.

    Any teaching hospitals close to her?
    Hi John,

    I live near Yale New Haven Hospital and they have funds for the uninsured who cannot afford coverage. Teaching hospitals generally have the latest in treatment options. I'm very sorry your mom is going through this.

    Roseann
  • John_32
    John_32 Member Posts: 71
    #6
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    roseann4 said:

    Any teaching hospitals close to her?
    Hi John,

    I live near Yale New Haven Hospital and they have funds for the uninsured who cannot afford coverage. Teaching hospitals generally have the latest in treatment options. I'm very sorry your mom is going through this.

    Roseann

    Thank you for the
    Thank you for the information everyone. I have followed up on some of these now but there is always some hitch. For example, The Healthwell Foundation requires that you have some form of insurance already, and the BCCCP program does not appear to be available in New Jersey where my mother is moving to. A teaching hospital might work if she needed hospitalization or chemo possibly, but right now her healthcare is about doctor visits, getting prescriptions, and having routine blood work and scans. I heard of someone enrolling in a two-credit course in a community college just to get cheap health insurance, so we are looking into that, and I have also called the medicaid office again and the woman explained that we could at least apply and see if she can get approved based on the "disability" criteria, even though she is not actually disabled; the woman believes this has been successful in other stage IV breast cancer cases, even where the person was still functional. Of course my mother does not want to be labeled as having a disability though--but she needs health insurance.
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #7
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    John_32 said:

    Thank you for the
    Thank you for the information everyone. I have followed up on some of these now but there is always some hitch. For example, The Healthwell Foundation requires that you have some form of insurance already, and the BCCCP program does not appear to be available in New Jersey where my mother is moving to. A teaching hospital might work if she needed hospitalization or chemo possibly, but right now her healthcare is about doctor visits, getting prescriptions, and having routine blood work and scans. I heard of someone enrolling in a two-credit course in a community college just to get cheap health insurance, so we are looking into that, and I have also called the medicaid office again and the woman explained that we could at least apply and see if she can get approved based on the "disability" criteria, even though she is not actually disabled; the woman believes this has been successful in other stage IV breast cancer cases, even where the person was still functional. Of course my mother does not want to be labeled as having a disability though--but she needs health insurance.

    I hope that you find some
    I hope that you find some insurance and help for your Mother soon John. If I think of anything else, I will let you know.

    I do believe that when you are Stage IV, that social security will look at your Mom's case harder and hopefully approve your Mom faster. Your Mother may not like the disability word, but, she does need health insurance and why shouldn't she get it. She is as entitled to it as anyone else.

    Good luck to you and your family and sending you prayers!


    Sue :)
  • GregStahl
    GregStahl Member Posts: 188
    #8
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    Try this
    www.healthcare.gov
    Need help navigating that site let me know. I have been looking into the "pre-existing coverage" and now know my way around the site. gstahl@us.ibm.com
    Greg
  • Skeezie
    Skeezie Member Posts: 586 Member
    #9
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    Ritzy said:

    I hope that you find some
    I hope that you find some insurance and help for your Mother soon John. If I think of anything else, I will let you know.

    I do believe that when you are Stage IV, that social security will look at your Mom's case harder and hopefully approve your Mom faster. Your Mother may not like the disability word, but, she does need health insurance and why shouldn't she get it. She is as entitled to it as anyone else.

    Good luck to you and your family and sending you prayers!


    Sue :)

    John, tell your mother to relax and not worry
    about "labels". No one knows this except the Social Service worker and it's only a method to get Medicaid. No biggee. No one would ever know.

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