prayer request

geotina said:

yikes
Sorry for your troubles. Here in Michigan some cities have in excess of 20% unemployment so we see first hand how bad the economy really is. Any chance you can jump on disability before the axe falls. Tina

dorookie said:

I am so sorry
OMG, that is just horrible, are you for sure you will lose your job? I think lisa42 is a teacher too, maybe she can shed some light on what options might be out there for you. I will keep you in my prayers. Please be strong, God will open another door, I just know it. Keep the faith..

God bless you
Beth

Shayenne said:

That Sucks!
This is so horrible for you. I would hope even a healthy employee who knows of your situation would even give up their job for you, so you could keep the benefits, one who was chosen to stay, and then said "Let Patti have the job" as they should know how hard it is to find an insurance group as well that will accept someone with a dx like yours. I really feel bad for you, but also feel hopefully that things will work itself out, would you be able to get Medicare or anything? I wish I was there to give you a hug!

You are always in my prayers, and I will keep you in them, and hope for the best for you!

Hugsss!
~Donna

Bear23 said:

So sorry
So sorry to hear about this. I too work for a school as an ed tech, with teacher cert. I carry the health insurance for the family and worry about the time that I could be cut. The writing is on the wall here in Maine. I just hope that because I work in special ed that I will still have work. I, also, do not know what I will do if I cannot work or if I get cut. I will keep you in my prayers. Have you talked personally with your union?

Bear

lisa42 said:

ugh!
Hi Pattee,

I was a teacher for many years until I got my stage IV diagnosis 2-1/2 yrs ago. I'm in California and here teachers don't put into Social Security, but into CalSTRS, which is California State TEacher's Retirement System. I am getting disability through STRS. Basically, this means I now will not have a retirement plan, as they drain what's in your retirement account first, then I continue beyond that getting monthly checks as long as I qualify. Qualifying means that your doctor has to write a letter and fill out a form justifying the fact that you're unable to work. I'm assuming that other states also have a similar retirement program. If your school district has been taking money out of your check each month and putting it into your teacher's state retirement system, then you should be able to get what they call "retirement disability". If you didn't put in to social security as I didn't, then you can't get social security disability. I did put into Medicare, however, so I should be able to get that someday. I'm going to try to find out soon if I can qualify for Medicare sooner (I'm just 43). With soc. sec. disability, you can get Medicare early before retirement age after you've been on the disability for 2 yrs. I'll have been on the STRS retirement disability for 2 yrs this coming March. Even though it's not soc. sec. disability, it is a state government system, so I'm going to see if I still qualify for Medicare.

I'm telling you all this in hopes that maybe you'll discover that there is something there for you, after all. That is so lousy what your district is planning on doing to you and others. I went through getting pink slipped twice in the past far after I had tenure. I never actually lost my job, but the district does that every year to teachers, who end up not knowing if they have their job back again or not until August or September each year.

I will pray for you. So far as health insurance, I am currently paying into the plan through COBRA. It would be available to you too but, of course, it could be quite expensive. As of Jan 1st, prices went up and the district changed ins. companies- we had Aetna & I know have Health Net HMO. It's costing me $1494 a month for my family of five. My husband's work only contributes $150 towards the plan and since they're a small company, it's even more- it would cost us over $1500 a month and that would be for Blue Cross, which I'm told might not be as good as what I have.
It's a lot of money, but if you only need it for yourself, it wouldn't be as much as I said above- Health Net's cost for one person for my district is $457/month.

Best wishes to you- I'd call your union rep at the state level- you might even be able to take legal action against the district- maybe not for the layoff if it's actually in the contract, but possibly for their "oversight" in not getting disability for you. If you aren't proactive, no one will reach out and do anything for you- you've got to investigate yourself, unfortunately. There's got to be an attorney's group who works with issues for teachers, health insurance, etc. Good luck!

Lisa