Great. Losing insurance

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 16, 2007 4:40 pm

Great. I will be losing my job on the 25th and with that my insurance. The insurance company has been renting my machine. Something like i pay $25 a month for 10 months then i get the machine. They say i owe $146 for the month of March when i started due to the 80/20 deal. That is for the mask and stuff. Then 25 for April then 25 for May. They said when my insurance stops i have to pay $111 a month in stead of 25. I said come get your machine.. I am not paying you 777.00 when for $400 or so i can get a brand new machine and not the Paykel bare basic unit. I hope i find a new job soon but i cant go without a machine for a month. Poor time to loose a job with wedding costs coming due.

John

goober · Post by **goober** » Wed May 16, 2007 4:49 pm

Hi, Sorry to hear about your job loss. I would look on Craigslist.com for a machine. I went looking for a backup and found a brand new Remstar Plus with humidifier for $150.00. There are great deals to be had on machines if you look around a bit. Good luck on your job search.

luneman · Post by **luneman** » Wed May 16, 2007 5:03 pm

I am a "private contractor" and that means "no insurance". I do have "self-pay" insurance with a 7500.00 deductable .... might as well have none.

The RemStar Auto provides me and my doc all the info that sleep labs and re-titration offers, at a far less cost.

The initial investment of 800 bucks was stiff, but it is a lot less than 5000.00 per sleep lab visit!

This is your health you are dealing with , don't put it on the back burner!

Look around.. you can find a deal.

If you are going with a respironics unit, buy the software while it is still available!

Good luck with the job search. Think positive.. It will work out!

_________________

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DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Wed May 16, 2007 5:33 pm

Check out Yahoo Auctions ...if you act before they shut down you can get a pretty good deal. Also check out your nearby Craigslist ... you may be surprised.

Get yourself the cheapest machine you can find just to hold you over til you get your next job. You can always use it as a back up after you get a better machine.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:24 pm

I would suggest the following before you lose your job:

1. Make an appt. with GP, take a copy of your PSG, get a copy of the CPAP script already paid for.

2. Use that script and buy a autopap machine on-line.
3. Give the current machine back to the DME.
4. Don't let your medical insurance lapse more than 60-days or you will be totally screwed, ask for a "Certificate of Insurance" from your current insurance company. If you let it lapse, you will be uninsurable, same for your life insurance.
5. Do NOT call any prospective insurance carriers and tell them you have OSA, you will be booted out the door. Check for insurance on-line like with BlueCross or Blue Shield. Don't volunteer any medical history, at the end of the questionnaire you have to agree to signing a release so they can obtain your medical history anyway, so let them find out your past medical history on their own. Pretty much every one has hypertension, but I wouldn't volunteer any more than that.

I only have major medical with the PPO 1000 plan, it costs me $175 per month, think I have to have a stroke or coronary before they cover anything, no routine office visits, no prescriptions, if you want that you WILL pay for it in monthly premiums. Oh they do cover 1 digital prostrate exam per year for that amount, I guess they want you not to forget they still have you.

WearyOne · Post by **WearyOne** » Wed May 16, 2007 7:44 pm

So sorry to hear about your insurance!

I agree, if you can get another script for a machine and get that machine online before your insurance runs out, that would help a lot.

A few more things that you might want to look into.

1. You have 60 days that you can be off health insurance before signing up for new insurance without being considered uninsured. If you go past that 60 days before new insurnace starts, it can cause problems with any pre-existing condition, plus other things.

2. If COBRA will be available to you, look into it. Once you decline it, you can't go back and change your mind. I think you have 30 days to decide on that, although I'm not sure. (I know, it's not cheap!!)

3. Most states (maybe all), have something called an insurer of last resort, or something like that. Whatever insurance company has that role in your state has to insure you if you have no other option (i.e. no company insurance through you or a spouse, COBRA isn't an option or you've exhausted COBRA, etc.). They usually offer that at their highest premium. Anthem (BC/BS) has that role in Virginia.

Hope you find a job soon!

Pam

GeneS · Post by **GeneS** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:20 pm

I think that it is a law that cobra must be offered to you. If you can afford it and expect to get another job with insurance it is very good advice to go on cobra.

GeneS

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:26 pm

The cost of COBRA is so high, unless you plan to have Cancer or a Heart Attack it not useful. I carried it one time but it was cheaper for me, due to the wifes problems. Jim

WearyOne · Post by **WearyOne** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:39 pm

COBRA may be high, but the policy I have totally covered my two sleep studies, and 100% of my machine and one mask, so these things alone balanced out over six months of COBRA cost, not to mention prescriptions and office visits that I didn't have to pay full cost for. For the first 12 months, it ran $391 a month for just me, and it's a great no-referral-needed policy. No dedutible, just co-pays. (I picked up an individual policy for my teen-age son. That was definitely less expensive that keeping him on COBRA because he's so young and in good health.) If I had gone to an individual policy with my health issues, I would have been paying around $500/month with at least a $5,000 deductible (and that was before the OSA diagnosis).

My husband chose not to take the COBRA insurance when he lost his job, and one month later he had a hospital stay with a cost of over $24,000 that is now in collection becasue we can't pay it. I'm not willing to risk that kind of expense by not having any insurance at all.

Pam

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:40 pm

Have you checked to see whether your existing insurance will do a "buy-out" on your machine before your coverage ends?

Den

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Wed May 16, 2007 8:48 pm

WearyOne wrote:COBRA may be high, but the policy I have totally covered my two sleep studies, and 100% of my machine and one mask, so these things alone balanced out over six months of COBRA cost, not to mention prescriptions and office visits that I didn't have to pay full cost for. For the first 12 months, it ran $391 a month for just me, and it's a great no-referral-needed policy. No dedutible, just co-pays. (I picked up an individual policy for my teen-age son. That was definitely less expensive that keeping him on COBRA because he's so young and in good health.) If I had gone to an individual policy with my health issues, I would have been paying around $500/month with at least a $5,000 deductible (and that was before the OSA diagnosis).

My husband chose not to take the COBRA insurance when he lost his job, and one month later he had a hospital stay with a cost of over $24,000 that is now in collection becasue we can't pay it. I'm not willing to risk that kind of expense by not having any insurance at all.

Pam

I know what you mean, it's a crap shoot, It was 10 years ago, and my Cobra was $875 a month, I ran it to the end with no income, used up most of my savings. The wifes Drugs were $1200 a month. Still are, but now I have ins. Jim

sleepyhead63 · Post by **sleepyhead63** » Wed May 16, 2007 10:08 pm

John I know how you feel I been out of work for almost 6 months on the verge of losing my unemployment just stay positive and I will pray for ya. Be strong.

john44077 · Post by **john44077** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:32 am

Thanks for the replys.
I went to Yahoo auctions and did bid on a machine. I did try to get the insurance to buy out the machine and they said no way. I will be getting married in a few weeks so i can go on my wifes policy at that time but that is still a month away and i know i dont want to go a month with out my machine. SHe has family coverage already with her kids so me being added wont add cost to the policy. Its 2-4 people. Any other auction sites besides Yahoo and EBay? I know Craigslist. Thanks

John

Great. Losing insurance

Great. Losing insurance

Look on Craigslist

No insurance

Mask