Off Topic Rant

[Joe_0206]

I work fulltime and have great medical insurance. My wife just left a job (the why she left is another story) where her employer paid 100% of the insurance premium.

I’m now going through the process of adding my wife to my plan. It’s only going to cost an additional $100 a month, but I have to prove we are married AND live together.

They (the insurance company) need a copy of our marriage certificate and something like a utility bill with her name and our address. In addition, they need another bill or subscription with MY name and the same address as the previously mentioned utility bill.

To make matters worse – we can’t find our marriage certificate. Tore apart the house last night looking for it. We found owner’s manuals to stuff we don’t even own anymore. But, no marriage license certificate.

The online “public records” companies want to charge $50 for a copy. If we contact the probate court where we got married, it’s only $10. They need the request by mail with a cashiers check or money order. That could take weeks to process.

All of this has to be done before the end of the month or they will not be able to cover her for this month. Coverage would start next month. This means we may have to skip getting medication my wife needs, or paying full price.

There’s the COBRA option, but even that cost is steep - somewhere between $200 - $300. With my wife unemployed, we couldn’t afford that even for one month.

We may look into getting her a plan through an exchange or the A.C.A.

Argh!!

[/rant]

[caryrae73]

We had to go through the exact same thing for me to get on my wife's insurance. Luckily though I knew where the marriage certificate was. Then of course when I did get on hers I had trouble with them not paying for stuff because I had other insurance before but eventually they paid. Good luck.

[Julie]

Could you not expedite (courier) the probate's $10. with a letter explaining your predicament, and/or a phone call to the right person at the court and begging for a little expediting of things? Nothing to lose, and often squeaky wheels get grease...

[JDS74]

What is the cost of not having her on your policy?
If it exceeds $50, then the online cost saves money.
ACA premiums will likely exceed the $100 of the add-on.
And getting onto ACA is problematic now that the enrollment deadline has passed.

[Joe_0206]

We finally did the expedite. My wife overnighted the request AND included an expedite return envelope - postage paid. That should do it.

And, yes I will call again. Maybe turn on some Southern charm. The first time I spoke with someone there they had the personality of a shoe box.

With the cost of drugs for cholesterol, diabetes and pain meds for fibromyalgia, we've got to get her covered. We may be begging our doctor for a bunch of samples.

[Goofproof]

Good thing we live in the USA, and have Bomacare, no more ins worries, most of us don't have to become citizens or work! A perfect world for sure!

[chunkyfrog]

Sometimes those %^&*$% like to pinch you good; you pay what you have to in order to save your bacon.
We were informed that our mortgage was being slammed from "Bank C" to "Bank GT" with under a week's notice.
After reading some of the horrible stuff blamed on "Bank GT", we scrambled to pay off the principal before the slam.
I withdrew a substantial amount from my IRA, and we took out two signature loans (at yucky interest), and got 'er done.
We even had our tax guy confirm that we were still in safe territory tax-wise.
Now I need to find a steak house that will let us have a small fire at the table.

[Goofproof]

Sometimes those %^&*$% like to pinch you good; you pay what you have to in order to save your bacon.
We were informed that our mortgage was being slammed from "Bank C" to "Bank GT" with under a week's notice.
After reading some of the horrible stuff blamed on "Bank GT", we scrambled to pay off the principal before the slam.
I withdrew a substantial amount from my IRA, and we took out two signature loans (at yucky interest), and got 'er done.
We even had our tax guy confirm that we were still in safe territory tax-wise.
Now I need to find a steak house that will let us have a small fire at the table.

I went to pay off my mortgage on the house, the bank had sold it to another company, it took them 3 weeks to track down where it was at.

[Joe_0206]

Same sh*t happened to me with a paid off car loan. Yes, I said PAID OFF. To get proof it was paid I had to go through multiple contacts to find the correct company. The financial world is a planet within itself.

[BlackSpinner]

You could just get married again..... Great excuse for a party.

[rkuntz]

As Backspinner said and save the Operators Manual this time.