The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Community : Thread List - Financial and Insurance Issues

Umemployed and have no insurance and worried about paying rent

communityreply@lls.org — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:28:53 GMT

I've just received a partial DX for B-cell Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

I just received notice that my unemployment is going to be drastically lowered. I have no medical insurance. Does anyone know if I would qualify for disability, SSI or even medicaid?(California is Medi-Cal)???

I'm 45 single and worried sick. I received the notice today. I don't even know if I'll be able to pay the rent with this new amount.

I live in California

Any information, anyone could provide would be so helpful.

On Cobra, will expire - insurance issues

communityreply@lls.org — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:06:24 GMT

Ouch - just had BMB and will know definitive results of prelimiary CML diagnosis.

Over past 15 years I was on my wife's excellent insurance thru her employment in a large law firm.

Law firm cut hundreds of jobs, hers was one and we have been on Cobra (affordable due to the 65% copay the

old employer has to contribute) for five months. The affordable part may end in Dec (although there are rumors that

the 65% copay will be extended, not sure) .

I was "in the middle(!)" of filing for regular personal insurance (Anthme BC PPO) here in CA when I rec'd the

first abnormal blood work. Of course you basically have to tell them that as if you did not they would invalidate the

coverage due to falsely answering the questions. So my wife was accepted (did not take it as that could hurt the Cobra

but we've figured that out now) and I WAS DENIED. No surprise.

Anyone have any experience or history on trying to obtain insurance while ill?

Thanks

Doc

medicaid and assets and SSDI?

communityreply@lls.org — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:43:01 GMT

Are you eligible for SSDI if you are on LTD with a mutual fund.My bf has a mutual fund actually profit sharing with his company.Will they make him cash it out? He also will be getting 80% of his income for LTD which is supposed to begin in 91 days. We have an option to COBRA until July, but I would rather get the ball rolling on SSDI and medicaid/medicare since he will not be returning back to work

Who ends up paying?

communityreply@lls.org — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:18:54 GMT

I'm a new member of the society, and would like to get some other thoughts and opinions. I'll start by saying that I feel very lucky with my diagnosis, CML- never even spent a night in a hospital, take one Gleevec a day and try not to think about the disease. My insurance picks up the cost of my medicine, for now. I'm laid off and wonder who is going to hire me with the very large expence of my monthly medical bills? To young to retire, still have some kids at home, didn't see the disease coming. Do we need a single payer plan, that would provide those of us who are now uninsurable, with some kind of coverage? I want to answer "yes", but before I do, can't help but wonder, will the government also deny you treatment if you are over 55? Will some panel, not even in the health care field, decide if I'm worthy of treatment? These concerns worry me more than my illness. I invite responses from anyone who is in a similar situation or has exprienced any problems in finding work because of leukemia.

Thank You: RobertC

Plan D choice advice for a Gleevec user in CA.

communityreply@lls.org — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:39:40 GMT

We live in CA. My husband has CML, takes 600mg of Gleevec/day. He will be going on Medicare in 2010. We need to choose a Plan D. I would like to know if anyone out there , living in CA, is on a Plan D that he/she is happy with and what kind of annual cost they are incurring. I would really appreciate some info. on this issue.

Need Medication

communityreply@lls.org — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:11:17 GMT

My mother was diagnosed with Leukemia on April 4th and she has yet to receive any medications. She applied for pay assistance and there seems to be one glitch after another between the pharmacy, doctor's office, and the LLS (LLS has agreed to pay for her 1st month prescription). Currently, the pharmacy is stating that the check from LLS has been lost/misplaced, therefore, no prescription can be mailed out until payment has been received/verified.

Has anyone been in a similiar situation? if so, what advice can you share so my mother can get a resolution to this ongoing nightmare?

Thank you.

Medicaid and IRA question

communityreply@lls.org — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:54:46 GMT

Greetings. My boyfriend has recently been diagnosed with AML and we're navigating all the research, all the appointments, all the aid to apply for, all the financial ins and outs. He does not currently have insurance but will qualify for Medicaid and SSDI, amongst other assistance. We originally filed for Medicaid online as soon as we knew about the diagnosis, which we later found takes longer. Then the case worker at the facility where he will be going for treatment said they would help facilitate the Medicaid process.

The case worker told us that Medicaid will turn my boyfriend down when they see how much money he has. It isn't much, under $10K altogether, but it was him trying to be responsible and have a little bit of savings for expenses if he were to lose his job or whatever. Like we're all supposed to do, but not all of us do. Anyway, one of the resources is an IRA. The case worker told us it will need to be cashed out for DSHS to approve Medicaid coverage. If my boyfriend closes out that IRA, he will get hit with a $600 penalty. Is there a possibility of stating disability as the reason for closing the IRA and getting out of that penalty?

My boyfriend is struggling with what to do with the IRA money. Additionally, we may need to document where the money went to show that all resources have been drained. My advice to him has been

do not pre-pay any medical bills with it (he wanted to pre-pay dental or other medical needs), but maybe pay already-existing bills?
do not ask our landlord for a bill for a year's worth of rent in advance (another idea he had, but I disagree because that then shows he doesn't need any assistance with housing),
maybe prepay utilities? although this could be as problematic as prepaying rent,
put some of it in the benevolent account I'm setting up on Monday. A benevolent account is an account where anyone who has access to that bank's branches can go in and make a donation in his name. It isn't opened with his Social Security number, so it isn't tied to him formally, plus it will not count as income on his next year's tax filing.

Any other ideas? Has someone been through this specifically before? Are we overthinking the documentation standpoint? Initially, we reported the IRA and everything else on the Medicaid online application, but because it still has not been processed, the case worker facilitating the application next week can just start over and fill out a new application and write "supercedes previous application", and then DSHS will use that new application (I got this information straight from DSHS). Is my boyfriend overthinking what to do with the money? Can he just stick it under the bed, so to speak?

WILL MEDICARE REIMBURSE TRAVEL AND LODGING FOR TRANSPLANTS?

communityreply@lls.org — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:54:54 GMT

Our private policy reimburses with a $10,000 cap.

We will be switching to Medicare A and B with a good Medigap. Does anyone know the answer?

College?

frankcoseglia@yahoo.com — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:26:48 GMT

I was dx with AML at 22 had a MUD SCT at 23 and I am now 24. I am attending college online 3/4th of the time. I am wondering if anyone knows of any cancer related grants or scholorships I could apply for to help offset my costs? Any input would be great. I am located in NY, but my schools is online, located in WV.

Thanks again!!

~Frank

Donor search not covered?

communityreply@lls.org — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:33:57 GMT

Hello,

My wife had Lymphoblastic Lymphoma and completed 8 rounds of HCVAD and a year of maintenance chemo. Apparently the chemo damaged her bone marrow and now she has MDS/AML. Doesn’t cancer suck?

We are now looking at a stem cell transplant. We have good insurance but it will not cover the donor search. The hospital informed us that it will cost us 2-3K per match attempt and there are 30 potential matches. Normally they would test 10-15 but since we have to pay for them they will test 3-5 at a time. They will not even start the process without a 10K deposit.

As anyone else had this problem? Are there grants or programs we can apply for? With the lead time involved will we find the best match in time?

Troubled,

cwg

Hope Floats, i have a question for you.

communityreply@lls.org — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:28:11 GMT

Hey Sue, i have a question.

What was the process when your son started back to work as far as his disability payments. Did your son work full time/part time etc? What was your experience? Thanks.