Wife's health insurance too high to pay $500/mo

[MtPockets]

I know we are not alone with the cost of living going up all the time. Maybe we can share some ideas here of how to handle these problems.

My wife's health insurance Blue Cross has gone up again to almost $500 a month. She is to have surgery on a torn tendon in her elbow this coming month. She also needs surgery on ruptured discs in her back, but we cannot afford it. Of course she got most of these from having to pull on me while transfering.

We have searched the Internet for more affordable insurance, but all of them we have checked are more expensive, plus they will not insure her due to existing medical problems.

SO what do you do when you have to chose between food and insurance?

Please share any ways you have discovered to cope with all the costs of living on a daily basis, and on a fixed income.
Electricity over $250-mo
Gasoline over $150-mo
Water-over 125-mo
Much less med insurance, home insurance, car insurance, Doctor bills, etc....... on and on it goes, where it stops nobody knows. :-D:-D:-D

 

[fiddleplayer51]

Capt. Al,
Our electric bill went up by 1/4 a couple of months ago because the Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) from our electric company's power supplier increased from $.0126/KWH to $.0229/KWH. So the steps I took to conserve electricity were 1. hanging our laundry out instead of using dryer and 2. turning our electric hot water heater down from 140 degrees to 120 degrees. Now our bill is back down to where it was before the FCA increase.
I realize your wife has a bad back and elbow, so maybe the laundry thing isn't an option. I was just letting you know how much it helped us.

Have you been getting good rain this year? I know alot of people are beginning to collect rain in rain barrels which can then be used for watering gardens and for other things. Of course, I don't know how much help you have, and lugging water is a heavy task, although the rain barrels have a spigot on them to which you can attach a hose.

We don't have AC so that's not a factor for us. Fans do a great job!

I hope others have some good suggestions. I know everyone is struggling. If we all put our heads together, maybe we can get some ideas.

Take care, Mt. Keep that smile on your face and good luck conserving those greenbacks! :wink:
Jane

 

[MtPockets]

We have been blessed with a lot of rain this year, almost every evening. So we have not had to water anything. We were surprised when the water bill went up. We do have two of our fifteen grandchildren, who are teenagers, living with us, so this has increased some of the utilities.

We did turn the thermostat up a couple of degrees after the last bill. Running the ceiling fans may help keep the house cooler, rather than using the ac. Waiting to see the next bill to see if it helps.

Thanks for the ideas. Anyone else?

 

[CindyM]

Some states have programs where the caregiver can get paid for taking care of the PAL. I don't know if those jobs come with insurance, though. Health insurance is such a big issue in the US.

 

[brooksea]

I'm in the same fix looking for affordable insurance.

I've been looking at Associations, Chambers of Commerce and Sams Club. If you join the association, chamber or club you are then able to buy "group" insurance which is supposedly better than buying individual policy. So far they all stink and I can see no advantage.

Right now I'm working part time in order to pay for a car and to obtain insurance. Don't know what in the world I will do when I have to care for my husband full time.

Now that I work, I want my son to be able to participate in a sport and I don't want the health insurance to eat up that money.

My son is in the state funded insurance program that we pay into, but if we go out of state he's not covered, so I have to get a policy for him too. We've already gone thru the experience of being out of state and he got sick. No one would see him and we couldn't afford to pay outright. Amazingly he recovered about the time we crossed the state line! LOL

It's a crying shame, that you work hard all your life and tragedy strikes, but you don't qualify for jack because you're not destitute. We've funded these programs with our hard earned money and I think certain individuals should qualify even if they don't fit the normal guidelines. We also, keep PALS out of nursing homes, saving the government lots of doe! CALS should be compensated for filling the role of all those caregivers the government would otherwise be paying for! Sorry for RANT!:evil:

Have a nice day!:-D

Hope somebody can give us some ideas...

 

[gimpydad'slady]

Tell me about it! We are in that boat now. I went out on FMLA in April, that expired yesterday. I do not plan to return to work, because I care from Bri full time. I had awesome insurance where I worked, but because Bri can't be left alone, and those that are willing to help out can't pick him up when he falls, I have decided to stay home with him.

I am waiting to see what the figures are for COBRA now. The insurance I had, I paid $240 a month for, I am nervous about the amount. We are currently living off Bri's SSI, and our savings.

Its nuts out there. I agree they need more programs for us CALS to help take care of our PALS at home!

 

[cukita99]

i wish there was a way we could change the guidelines. ive tried very hard to get ssi or any other type of help with no sucess. ive worked hard for years n paid my taxes but cus i have not worked in the past 10 years they wont help me even if im permantly dissabled. but yet i know of people out there that have all the benefits and are not as bad. i will not live to collect ssi or medicare.

 

[jskierz]

Cpt Al
would you qualify to have a company donate solar panels to decrease your electrical costs? Maybe one of the service clubs in your area could get behind this project. Maybe the company that manufactures them.

Also although I only have one teenager we started fining her $1.00 every time she left a room and left lights/radio/etc on and was not coming back right away. It only took one week and she finally caught on that we were serious. We also made sure that anything that didn't need to be plugged in all the time was not anymore and reduced our electrical costs by $25 per month.

We also hang our laundry out rather than use the dryer as much as we can and put a dry towel in with a wet load to reduce the drying time. We have replaced all the lightbulbs in our house to more energy efficient ones and noticed a dramatic decrease on our bill.

 

[sharonca]

I live in HOT Southern Calif. A friend of mine is using her whole house fan every night and has barely used her air conditioner this year. I on the other hand do not have a whole house fan and am running the A/C constantly. When my bathroom remodel starts next week I'm having a whole house fan installed. For those who do not know the concept - you crack the windows as soon as the outside air is cooler than the inside air and turn on the fan. The fan then sucks in the cool air and draws out the hot air through the attic. You wake up in the morning to a really cool house and close all the windows. Saving a ton of money on the A/C bill.

And in the spirit of looking for sympathy... gas costs $4.55 a gallon here! Bummer.

Sharonca

 

[Jeannie]

I wish I had words of advice, This all stinks. There should be more help out there.
You are in my prayers
In friendship
Jeannie

 

[hopingforthebest]

It stinks! but......God is good

Hi Al

I know! As of the end of this month, my husbands medical ends and I had to pick up Cobra for him at $609 a month.

Now.....SSD sent us a notice that he is approved but 1st check and not retro will be Dec. 10. There was NO mention of Medicare. So I called, emailed them and no response.
Do I just assume he will be approved for Medicare same month that disability comes?
Why can't social security return our call/emails?

It is awful Al. We should be concerned about each day that we are blessed to be alive but instead we are bombarded with bills, bills and bills.

I figure this is God's way of keeping me (since George cannot get down on his knees, poor guy) on my knees in prayer.

So far, no pay check (no state disability, as his county does not participate), not eligible for SSI, so I go to work and leave him 3 full days a week. The entire day I have a lump in my throat as he is alone. Somedays he gets a visitor and daily gets a health aide to bath, groom him for 25 minutes through hospice.

Oh Al, I forgot this post was suppose to address how you can get some assistance? Honestly, I will pray for you as soon as I sign off. See how this great forum gets us to see we are all in this together. Could possibly the Guardian Angel ALS guy give you some help? Will pray about that too!

Keep your head and prayers pointed upward and know that someday, no more worry, no more bills and no more ALS. But now in His hands.... God's time....not ours!
We will continue to fight the good fight, right Al?

Your friend,
Patty

 

[sharonca]

About SSD... I signed up right away in December and was told that I was approved and checks would begin for June in July. When I asked about Medicare I was told that I didn't quality for 24 months. Of course I educated the person about ALS and she said that I had been mismarked as MS and that it really didn't matter so she would not change it. And then I really informed her about ALS. She called me back and said that everything had been fixed and my Medicare cards would arrive before June. Well June comes and goes and no cards. I called yesterday and was told that the correction from MS to ALS had never been made and it is a very difficult change to make (How could that be?). Anyway after a dozen calls today I get through to the man who said he would fix it and call me today and he still didn't have it fixed. He promises it will be fixed tomorrow - card to arrive in five days - kinda like "checks in the mail".

All that to say you have to be persistent. The Social Security person is supposed to sign you up immediately for Medicare - to start the same month as their payments. You can always look on the Medicare web site and find a number to call and ask. I'd give you the number I used but it is for the "very special technician".

Sharonca

 

[Jeannie]

I have to agree wih Sharonca that you MUST be VERY PERSISTANT. If you aren't they will just hope that you go away. My MIL had to have her husband call a few times a day and then finally go to the office in person. the funny thing was they set in his benifits first and he wasn't the sick one. He called and gave them a piece of his mind and her card arrived within a week. I am under the assumption that if the diagnosis is als you are under the umbrella for approval for Medicare
Hope this helps
Keep up the good work...
In friendship
Jeannie

 

[MtPockets]

A note of caution about Cobra insurance.

When I had to retire on disability my Cobra insurance continued they said for 18 months. The first month I got a bill for $2400 for that one month coverage. They failed to tell me that. Yes, it continued, but no I could not afford it, so had to drop the coverage. This is what they wanted me to do all along.

Insurance companies only care about the bottom line, $$$$$ not people.

 

[gimpydad'slady]

COBRA insurance....just received my rates

Mt pockets, I didn't have to wait to find out I can't afford it. I just received the rates to continue my families coverage and OMG! It is insane what we have to pay to continue the coverage. Now I am scrambling around trying to figure something else out. Medicare prescription coverage will put me in the poor house with just filling one prescription for Bri, the Rulitek we all know how expensive that is. I have no idea what I am going to do.......