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5 weeks b4 surgery and NY State wants to discontinue my insurance...
Sat, 08/26/2006 - 07:56Topic: Surgery and Devices
I am ready to choke the people who work for the state and don't seem to care about anyone else. I finally have my surgery planned to help stop my seizures, on Sept 27th at Albany Medical Center and the state says I make too much money at my seasonal summer job. 3 months of 25 to 40 hours a week, different hours every week depending on business, and they want to cancel it on August 31st. They know all about the surgery, they know my weekly hours will be cut after labor day, they know my checks are garnished for child support payments for my daughter who lives with her dad because of my seizures and they know I don't even make $800 a month because of it. Their numbers are way higher than the ones I figured out. Do they go by gross pay or net pay? Thats not fair if they go by gross and don't even take the support payments into account. The legal aid attorney didn't even know if they do. So, I filed the appeal online and hopefully it all still goes through. We'll see. Right now, i'm having seizures this week (of course,) they occur when I ovulate every month and I feel like crap, all stressed and worn out. Question- Does anyone know of a website to print out a living will that can be notarized and used that isn't a scam? The options online are amazing and I don't know which to choose. I am nervous and don't want to reschedule this. I'm losing my memory, my hands and lower arms go numb way too often and I can't think of the words I want to use half the time. It takes me ten minutes to figure out what I want to say and then i've forgotten what I was talking about by then. I need this surgery. 11 years of seizures, a possible end to it all, and now this bull****.......Kelly
Comments
Re: 5 weeks b4 surgery and NY State wants to discontinue my insu
Submitted by stefie on Sat, 2006-08-26 - 09:52
Kelly-
That's awful! Amazing what insurance companies/govt etc will do for money isn't it? Here's another suggestion: Talk to your employer and ask for a temporary "lay-off". Some employers (compassionate ones who truly value their employees) will sometimes do this so you can keep your coverage and your job. You'll be needing time off for surgery anyways. Another option is to see if they can cut your hours for a while (so you can still receive a paycheck) to meet the requirements of the state.
It sucks to have to do this, but you don't want to miss this surgery (or quite frankly, the medical coverage to pay for it- it's mighty expensive on your own).
Best of luck and put up a good fight!
stef
Re: Re: 5 weeks b4 surgery and NY State wants to discontinue my
Submitted by Kelly G. on Sat, 2006-08-26 - 18:50
Yeah, the state has it's lack of compassion for sure. My employer and I have talked over the options, and the hours will be minimal for the next month. Right after labor day, they'll be back to part-time again anyway. So, once the court date is set for the appeal, i'll already have about 4 more current paystubs to bring them, all with part-time hours to show. My net pay is under the limit with hours scheduled as such. My boss and his wife and great, it's a family run restaurant and they are such heart-felt people. They are helping me in every way possible. So, it's just a waiting game now until I go to the appeal or go to the surgery, whichever happens first, if at all......Thanks- Kelly
Re: 5 weeks b4 surgery and NY State wants to discontinue my insu
Submitted by Cathy_C on Sat, 2006-08-26 - 09:24
Hey Kelly, Don't give up right now. My question to you is: how well does you neurologist like you and what kind of relationship is between the two of you? If he/she is a good doctor who cares about their patients then I would ask for her to write a medical statement saying you have to stop your job due to stressfull situations and that you cannot work at this time. The reason I say this is because they will not give any help to anyone who quits or stops a job. I would try this route and then have the surgery cause if the doctor says you can not work and that you need this surgery for medical reason then they can't drop your insurance or atleast I wouldn't think they could. Then as soon as you have had the surgery and recover then go back to your normal line of work and let them drop ya if they have to. First talk to your neurologist about the issue with the insurance and she what type of ideas he/she has on it and see about getting a letter written about not being able to work. I truely hope you get this situated so you can go fourth with your surgery. Mine is scheduled for October 12th. I know how important it is for you. We both will be recovering together. Hope this helps in some way. Cathy (let me know what happens)