If you remember in an earlier post I talked about an outstanding insurance claim and what to do about insurance.
Well I still haven’t claimed that check. But the very lovely HR Red from MTV is helping me now. I spoke with the insurance last week and was told they sent me a $970 check that had been cashed – I told them that they had the wrong person, because I would have remembered that. Then she found me, and said my address change was still pending. I submitted this address change August 25, 2008 – can you explain to me how it is still pending six months later? Then today I was told that since my address had recently changed it would be at least 15 days before a check could be sent. What @#$#%! Anyhow I think I am getting close to reclaiming this. That will make my grand total for reclaiming this year $605! But it sure is a lot more work than it should be to get money that is already rightfully yours.
As for our actual insurance – We got our COBRA information packet last week. Unfortunately it only lists Rob as an individual, so now I have to find out if I ever actually got added to his plan, which I should have as we have been paying for it. If I did, the COBRA monthly pay for employee and spouse comes to $1029.00 per month. That’s A LOT of money when you don’t have full time jobs (it’s a lot of money when you do, but at least then you have a steady income)
The new stimulus bill that covers 65% of COBRA went into effect on March 1. But they are still writing the language for eligibility. If we are eligible for this break then we will owe $360 a month – this is kind of a lot, but totally doable. If we aren’t eligible then we are going the no insurance route and will pray for no sickness or injuries.
Why are we not getting the major medical coverage? Well the cheapest I can find is $320 for a not so great plan with crazy rules and super-high deductible. I’m ok with paying that for good insurance, but not catastrophic. And the amount we pay for annual check-ups and teeth cleaning is nowhere near hitting that deductible.
Maybe we’ll take our chances anyway. We have until April 20 or so to decide.