I hate insurance!

[Radbot42]

So I just turned 26 earlier this month, and will be losing my parents insurance. I had called the insurance company and they had told me two times that I would have it until the end of the year. I was planning on with all the applying I've been doing to find a job with benefits by the end of the year so I would not have to worry about it until much later, if worse comes to worse. And now My dad gets a letter for his job that my insurance will be cut off at the end of the month. Ughhhhhhh I hate this. (many other things too but this sucks the most right now) I know have 8 days to get insurance.....

[jaxc]

Preaching to the choir here, I'm on a insulin pump, which itself is nice, but recently(near the beginning of the new year) my insurance just can't seem to do something as simple as making sure they cover the necessary amount of insulin for a 1 month supply, covering the same for test strips, not telling me they stopped covering test strips for a previous meter model I've been using and that they switched me to a different one and not covering the supplies needed to actually use the pump in the first place.So yeah, I've been dealing with a lot of BS too, but i think there slowly but surely getting there shit together, and i hope it gets better for you too.

[MikeW]

Have you called the insurance company yet to try and get some clarification about getting TWO CONTRADICTORY messages from them?

That would be first on my list and I'd give them a piece of my mind about it, too.

Would be better yet if you'd documented the previous conversations, date, time, person you spoke with, etc.

[Radbot42]

I have a reference number for the last conversation. But what good would it do. The plan I was on would last until the end of the year. But if My dad's job stops paying for it it's gone in 8 days no matter what. I'm sure the company had the right info, just not all of it.

[East]

Insurance companies give me alot of anxiety before I have to deal with them.

A good trick...maybe call two or three different people to see if the answer differs. I do that with most corporations when I have to deal with something. The person on the other end ...well...it matters alot. I try to appeal to the person as an individual versus as a representative of a company I am angry at...it works ..but it takes a few tries. I get so many different responses...polar opposites in many cases...I thought about writing a book....

[Iceblink]

Do you not have a job at all right now? I know Michigan took the ACA, but I just looked it up and the next open enrollment does not begin until November. It does say you can sometimes get it outside of the enrollment period if there are unusual circumstances and your dad's insurance company dropping you seems like something out of your control. It might be worth a try.

[Radbot42]

I have a job (Substitute teacher) but it pays crap, and is crap.

[Radbot42]

I know there are probably people to call, but now I'm confused as I do my search for insurance. I know I won't need something expensive, but I have no idea what to look for or what type of insurance. It get's so confusing. Why don't they teach this stuff to you in high school or college, and if they do why didn't they force it on every person. This stuff is important, and it seems so easy to pick the wrong thing.

[LJay]

radbot, talk to a couple of agents by phone and ask them to sort your alternatives for you. You can also go to healthcare.gov to see if you can enroll there. I am seeing news stories about the enrollment period being extended because of so many running awry of the tax penalties. Looking on the site will help you to compare policies, if nothing else.

One major advantage of the ACA is that it sets minimum standards for policies so that certain things must be covered and a super cheap policy cannot omit coverage for those things.

Health insurance can be a bother to deal with but you will glad you have it, especially if something serious comes up. Policies these days also encourage preventive care and that can help down the line.

In the end, it is just a shop and compare thing.

[Iceblink]

I have a job (Substitute teacher) but it pays crap, and is crap.

I was asking because without an income, you could have gotten Medicaid at no cost. Unless your income is very low, you are likely going to have to pay something, but you should still be able to get some kind of subsidy since you do not make a lot.

But do not go without it.

Do what you can to get something. A few years ago I worked at a bankruptcy law firm in Michigan at the height of the economic downturn when hundreds of thousands were being laid off and there was the housing crash when thousands went underwater on their mortgages, but you know what was still the number one reason people were filing for bankruptcy? A very costly, unexpected medical episode and it wasn't just the old, but also some young people who thought they didn't need insurance. Four or five thousand owed to a hospital can be very stressful when you don't have it, but for most of these people the medical costs creditors were attempting to collect went way beyond that.