sovay | Fear is waking up endlessly in a bad dream, thinking of our family

Current Music: Ty Segall, "The Arms"

Fear is waking up endlessly in a bad dream, thinking of our family

I just got back from the Health Connector. Our insurance had sent us new cards this week, plus an introductory welcome packet, which somewhat surprised us since we had not actually changed our insurance since the beginning of the year when we did not change it so much as accept the fact that our previous insurance had rolled over into a new company and now all the letterheads were different but at least we could keep seeing our doctors. I spent considerable time on the phone yesterday trying to determine what had happened, in the course of which it seemed to come out that our last year's income had been drastically overvalued, the good news being that we would be eligible for state subsidy, the bad news being that we might lose our current doctors, and either way I should bring in all our financial documentation again and get the matter straightened out. I brought in our financial documentation this afternoon. I waited a long time to speak to someone. (I don't blame anyone at the office; they were appallingly understaffed.) And walked out shell-shocked because the person to whom I finally spoke told me that actually our income had been drastically undervalued and our insurance now just costs a lot more. Premiums. Co-pays. Medications. Everything. When already we cannot afford what we have been determined capable of paying. When we have to shortchange bills in order to make sure that we can see doctors. When our rent is more than I can be confident of making from month to month even without the additional expenses of gas and electricity and internet and groceries and cats and God forbid we go out to dinner some night or otherwise pretend to enjoy our lives. I can't be without doctors; I won't be functional enough to work. The metrics of the Health Connector are a black box to me. I don't know what triggered our financial reassessment; I don't even understand how our costs have risen when our income since December has not. I understand that we live in the poisoned atmosphere of a system designed to reward the already rich and drive the poor into further poverty, but I do not like to be reminded so harshly that the state really would prefer me to drop dead and stop inconveniently demanding that it treat me with even a charade of decency. And I am being reminded all too often now. And we live in Massachusetts, blue-hearted liberal bastion etc. World-class city Boston. We have it good.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

*gnashes teeth on your behalf*

How infuriating and perplexing. Much sympathy. That sounds hellish.

How infuriating and perplexing. Much sympathy. That sounds hellish.

I don't even mean that I don't understand what happened in the sense that I understand but think it's unreasonable, I mean I don't understand what changed on their end, because nothing changed on ours. No one has changed jobs. No one has gotten a raise. No one has unexpectedly become the beneficiary of a distance rich relative. We are not making more money than we were at the time when we enrolled in this plan. It is nonsensical.

(no subject)

moon_custafer - 2019-08-17 00:21 (UTC) - Expand

My thoughts are unprintable but in the meantime, check your email when you have a moment.

My thoughts are unprintable but in the meantime, check your email when you have a moment.

Checked. Thank you.

*hugs*

That is horrible, and this country's healthcare system needs to be overhauled instantly.

That is horrible, and this country's healthcare system needs to be overhauled instantly.

I would appreciate that. Everybody God-damned vote in November, all right?

What an absolute nightmare of a situation. I'm so angry on your behalf. *hugs*

What an absolute nightmare of a situation. I'm so angry on your behalf.

Thank you.

*hugs*

That is appalling beyond words. ;_;

That is appalling beyond words.

It was really not what I expected from my visit.

This is unconscionable. It is also bewildering, like some kafkaesque nightmare rendered horrifyingly material and immediate.

I am so, so sorry.

I am so, so sorry.

Thank you.

Dealing with insurance has been Kafkaesque for years, but this was just too on point.

Oh, gee. I am now wondering if it's possible the second person also did the math wrong -- one of the characteristics of these bad systems is they set people up to misread, mis-enter, mis-calculate... Maybe your income wasn't under-valued.

Anyway, sympathies, and yes, this is not reasonable.

I am now wondering if it's possible the second person also did the math wrong -- one of the characteristics of these bad systems is they set people up to misread, mis-enter, mis-calculate... Maybe your income wasn't under-valued.

I wondered about that also, but the representative was adamant that according to our financial information we really just owed more money; he just couldn't explain why, either. I feel like I can't tell if third time would be the charm or if I would wind up discovering that the Health Connector thought it was entitled to one of our kidneys.

Anyway, sympathies, and yes, this is not reasonable.

Thank you.

This is horrible. I'm so sorry.

If you were in New York, I would be offering to go back there with you as your advocate and hammer on them until some explanation came out that made any sense whatsoever. Do you know anyone who might be able to do that with you? It's not that you're not capable; it's that someone who is one step removed from the pain and demoralization of going through this can be louder and think faster and push harder. HCFA MA might be able to help open that black box for you. Or someone in the office of your state senator—helping constituents is their entire job.

I know this means more phone calls and more time on this and that's awful and I wish it could all just be easy.

Yes, this.

This sounds so unprovoked and unexpected, even by the standards of your country's healthcare system, that I wonder whether there is some source of advice / advocacy that can establish independently that the calculations really are correct...

(no subject)

kate_nepveu - 2019-08-17 13:03 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

sovay - 2019-08-17 20:53 (UTC) - Expand

No no no no no no. Is there an appeals process? I understand that it probably involves time and energy nobody has.

P.

Is there an appeals process? I understand that it probably involves time and energy nobody has.

We're not even in an enrollment period, which is part of what makes this entire development so mystifying to me! I don't know what my options are at this point.

rosefox and

a_reasonable_man both sent me links to an advocacy group in Massachusetts and I am seriously thinking of seeing what they can do me.

That sounds both deeply appalling and very hard, blessings to you.

That sounds both deeply appalling and very hard, blessings to you.

Thank you.

That is enraging.

That is enraging.

It feels both punitive and arbitrary, which is the worst combination.

*supports*

*supports*

*hugs*

That's just awful. I'm so sorry. <3

That's just awful. I'm so sorry.

Thank you. *hugs*

Holy crap. I'm used to agencies suddenly declaring "No you owe us money!" or "You need to repay us for these benefits you had" but this is so WTF.

(Had to kick coffee on account of health issues so what I meant was, this sounds WTF even for someone used to social services type WTF.)

Edited 2019-08-17 08:39 (UTC)

(Had to kick coffee on account of health issues so what I meant was, this sounds WTF even for someone used to social services type WTF.)

Understood and agreed. It came out of nowhere. I kept repeating that we had not changed our income, our plan, our insurance status, and kept being told that the numbers just said cough up more.

Joining the chorus of horror and disbelief. I'm really sorry, particularly for the arbitrariness. Human society should be better than this.

Joining the chorus of horror and disbelief. I'm really sorry, particularly for the arbitrariness. Human society should be better than this.

Thank you.

I'm so, so sorry. It shouldn't be like that.

I'm so, so sorry. It shouldn't be like that.

Thank you. I didn't think much of American healthcare already; I didn't need further evidence!

Edited 2019-08-17 21:17 (UTC)

Everyone I've talked to about this since I moved here warned me that the Health Connector etc. are confusing and take longer than you expect (even when you try to take that into account in guessing about how long it will take), but this seems extreme even by those standards, enough that I also suspect that the "no, you owe more" is an error.

but this seems extreme even by those standards, enough that I also suspect that the "no, you owe more" is an error.

I'm really going to try to find out. Last summer they tried to kick us off our insurance for a clerical error on their part, but this has gone above and beyond.

oh god

oh god

*hugs*

I know it takes so much energy, but fling your tax returns and your lease at them and appeal. I had not thought “the cruelty is the point” had reached Boston yet.

We are appealing a 20% increase to our health premiums, so it could be a nationwide outrage, but this is so unfair. You have insurance so you can USE it.

*hugs*

I know it takes so much energy, but fling your tax returns and your lease at them and appeal. I had not thought “the cruelty is the point” had reached Boston yet.

Our last year's tax returns are what our original costs were calculated off! I am going to see what kind of headway I can make on my own, and then I am going to look into the advocacy group linked above, because apparently that is the sort of thing one needs nowadays not to die from the social safety net.

We are appealing a 20% increase to our health premiums, so it could be a nationwide outrage, but this is so unfair. You have insurance so you can USE it.

*hugs*

Good luck with your appeal. Eat some faces for me.

I think our hellish healthcare situation is my top issue that doesn't involve concentration camps and white supremacy. The fact that the gears of this awful mechanism are crushing my friends, family, and those I work with, yes, it's a motivating factor.

I'm sorry. And I know you don't have the time or strength to pursue this, but I think this reevaluation must be wrong; I feel like *this* aspect of the torture is some kind of bureaucratic mistake--I cannot BELIEVE that your and Spatch's income can possibly have been undervalued. That just seems wrong. And yet they can cavalierly say so and ... it's hell.

The fact that the gears of this awful mechanism are crushing my friends, family, and those I work with, yes, it's a motivating factor.

It's a cheap and effective way to kill people, I have to say. We're going to have to fight it; I just wish we didn't have to.

*hugs*

I am so sorry.

I am so sorry.

Thank you.

*hugs*

I am so sorry. And horrified and stunned on your behalf.

I am so sorry. And horrified and stunned on your behalf.

Thank you.

Grrr!

Surely there's some independent advocacy group that could at least look at the whether you should be eligible for state subsidy. Because if they're wrong on that*, then the likelihood is they're wrong on everything else.

* I'm presuming that also got taken off the table given the end position.

I'm presuming that also got taken off the table given the end position.

Yes, which was especially confusing given where we started. I've been given pointers to an advocacy group who I am going to try if I keep meeting the black box. I just don't understand where it came from in the first place!

(no subject)

davidgillon - 2019-08-18 03:46 (UTC) - Expand

Oh wow, I am so sorry. This sounds like a nightmare.

Oh wow, I am so sorry. This sounds like a nightmare.

It had all the characteristics, including the part where everyone except me seemed to think it made any damn sense at all. Thank you.

Oh LORD. I'm so sorry, I think hitting up the advocacy group is a really good idea.

Oh LORD. I'm so sorry, I think hitting up the advocacy group is a really good idea.

Thank you. I am going to try it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

Page 1 of 2