I’m going to preface this post on Medicaid cuts by saying this: if you don’t get it, that’s not my problem. I don’t have the energy to help you understand why this matters on a larger, political scale. If you offer me worthless advice in the comments, I will reply with merciless snark.
Dan was kicked off Medicaid after 6 years, thanks to recent Medicaid cuts. His current health insurance ends at the end of the month. All because I make $200 more per month than is allowed under new rules.
The rules don’t care that the annual price of one of his prescriptions is more than I make the whole year—far exceeding the “extra” $2,400 a year the metric says I make now. Or that the Patreon and YouTube income I report are not guaranteed. Or that I can’t afford my medical bills even with those supplemental sources. Or that Dan gets paid nothing to be my rock while he deals with his own chronic pain.
The rules do, however, mandate that we can’t save money for when something like this inevitably happens.
If my brain cancer, medical anxiety, disability, and mystery illness weren’t enough, now I get to worry AGAIN about the health care of my emotional support human. The man who literally keeps me fed and watered and scrapes me up off the floor when I fall out of bed.
So, yeah. I’m honking pissed again.
Making anyone deal with these things when there are other options is inhumane. Making the sick and disabled navigate this hellscape—repeatedly—is supervillain levels of evil. Even convicted sadistic fuckwads would think twice about doing this to other humans.
For me to get any kind of better or merely acclimate to symptoms of my relatively new and undiagnosed health problems, I require stability.
This ain’t fucking it.
Exactly right!!!!!! Medicare when it really counts leaves us high and dry. Who makes their policies? It clearly is not someone who has experienced health problems or a challenged income.
Yep. I’m convinced that the people making these decisions have to be either clueless or heartless. (Probably both.)
Another example of how messed up the system is? I made a data entry on my Healthcare Exchange income update (totally my fault, I mis-read and entered my estimated monthly income instead of estimated annual), but noticed it immediately. I couldn’t figure out how to correct it online, so I called the Healthcare Exchange and the very helpful woman corrected it and a new Eligibility Notice arrived seconds later with the correct figures. I knew I didn’t qualify for Medicaid, I was just hoping I’d still be eligible for a partial subsidy to make a Silver Plan affordable. (I was. Phew.)
But a week later I got an official letter (with the wrong figures) saying I was eligible for Medicaid. I immediately sent that back with a copy of my actual Eligibility Notice confirming I an NOT eligible for Medicaid, the figure they based their “decision” on was my estimated MONTHLY estimated income. Last time something like this happened it took 8 months and constant pressure from me before they updated their records with the correct info.
Knowing they’re so quick to approve someone who’s clearly ineligible while denying your husband’s much-needed coverage is infuriating.
The good news is the people at the Healthcare Exchange have always been easy to deal with. Hopefully a call to them can get Dan enrolled in one of the $0/mos premium or nearly $0/mos plans that will cover his needs.
Waiting for his identity to be verified but keeping my fingers crossed it’s possible he gets a doable policy through ACA. 🤞
Your anger and frustration are extremely justified. Can’t imagine how frustrating it is. Things really need to improve in this country. Too many people like you dealing with situations like this.