Insurance for the Uninsured

I feel for you that you have to go through this at a time when your own kids are so young and need so much care. I lost my mom to stage 4 lung cancer about 3 years ago and I didn't have any children at the time and I know what you are facing.

I am assuming that your mom is not 65 or older or she would be on Medicare and that she does not have a spouse whose plan she could be on. And if she retired in the summer it would be too late for her to get COBRA coverage from her previous employer.

At this point it is going to be very hard to get insurance outside of Medicaid (aka Medical Assistance/ Access/ Access Plus) because she has a pre-existing condition. I would really encourage her to go on Medical Assistance because I know my mom's medical claims totaled over $600,000 and that does not count the prescriptions or what Medicare paid toward hospice. None of the treatments that my mom received were all that exotic either, but everything adds up. BTW, a lot of the drug companies offer assistance so if they put your mom on any prescription medications find out who the manufacturer is and call and ask about their assistance programs.

I was working for Highmark at the time my mom was ill and she had our coverage, but her drug coverage was limited to $350 a quarter and she was on some prescriptions that cost thousands of dollars but she was able to get them cheaper through the drug company's assistance plan.

I also cannot stress enough that you will need support through this process because things can change so quickly with this disease. If you are working, I would encourage you to apply for FMLA as soon as possible so that you are not trying to deal with this right at the time that you need to be off from work.

Have a frank talk with your mom, pride may not be the only thing holding her back from going on Medical Assistance. Medical Assistance requires you to spend down on assets that you have and your mom may feel that if she does that then she won't be leaving you with anything when she passes away. Parents can get very funny about those things when they are facing their mortality.

I wish you all the best.

PS
You can also ask your mom's doctor about clinical trials because you generally do not pay for any treatment that you receive in the clinical trial

1 mom found this helpful

Dee, I am sorry to hear your mom is going through this.I know how hard this must be for you. Has she tried for medicare i am sure she would apply for it.I am suprised the hospital she is dealing with hasn't offered her anything since she has no medical. When my gram Retired she was placed on it and it wasn't welfare. My gram felt the same way. I will say we did have a lot of out of pocket.

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Dee, I am very sorry to hear about your mother, how sad but, how unfortunate is it she has declined medical through the system these are going to be very hefty hospital bills i am a nurse and assume your mother has worked her whole life and now it is time the community gives back to her, I am not sure of the living will situation but hopefully you or your siblings will not be made liable god for bide something happen to her. Please if the system is willing to pay through medacare why not! Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and know one but her, family, and hospital knows her insurance it is not broad casted. I know my mom was my grandmother executor when she passed 2 years ago and was left with many unpaid bills and she was forced to sell grandma's property she just couldn't afford to keep it going because of gram's unpaid debt. Please speak with your mother and try to get her to take what is availabe to her. I wish you and you family the best and i will say a prayer for you family

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When I couldn't afford health insurance, I contacted the people at CHIP (the insurance for uninsured kids) and they hooked me up with something called Adult Basic. I am now insured for $36 per month! There is also an organization called Community Volunteers in Medicine. Talk to them! Good Luck.

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My mother in law had a loosing battle with breast cancer just after our daughter was born. I am sorry you must go through this. It will change ALL of your lives forever. I know that my mother in law got a lot of help from the American Cancer society. I would contact them. If they are unable to provide you with the assistance you need, they will be able to at least be able to give you a list of local resources. I am pretty sure they even helped her get some wigs at a reasonable price. Also you, yourself, should see what family resources they have. I know we should have taken advantage of so therapy or support groups, it would have made it easier I think. If you would ever like to talk or even just vent a little..... feel free to send me a message, I would be happy to listen. I am also a RN, so I have a little medical knowledge. Good luck you and your mother. You will be in our families prayers.

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I think that her best option is the welfare system. Medicare for retirees still requires some supplemental plan so it may not be that affordable. She can go through the hospital and ask about certain charities that pay for medical care. I only found out about this through a friend of mine who was having trouble and did not have insurance and the social worker directed her towards these things. Other than that I don't really know of any other options. I hope this helps. If you have medical insurance I know that in some cases a parent can be considered a dependent and be covered by the adult child's insurance too. You would have to call the insurance company. I will keep her in my prayers. god bless!

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I am sorry to hear about your mother's diagnosis and will keep her and your family in my prayers. Have you talked to anyone at the hospital to see what options they might offer or what outside funding sources they are aware of. A social worker or billing supervisor might be able to steer you in the right direction. Also, if she had medical benefits through her employer was she eligible to continue those benefits under the COBRA law? If so, maybe she can still obtain those benefits. That might be a long shot, but worth looking into. Beyond that, I would try talking to her again about the benefits she declined through welfare. Perhaps the hospital social worker could help with that discussion and provide an objective opinion.

1 mom found this helpful

I don't know if medicad is the same thing as welfare there is also a thing cobra, but i am not sure how it works.

also there is no reason for her to feel less pride just because of welfare insurance. It is there to help people be covered when there is no other way. No one needs to know where your insurance comes from.

Hope that all is works out.

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You should talk to her about getting medical access through the welfare office. She needs to get her medical paid. She needs to get all the care possible. Cancer is a horrible thing to have to go through. She will need more and more care. It cost a lot of money. That is what medical access is for. No one expects her to suffer without getting her medical paid for. Also, when she has to go to the hospital, there is bound to be unpaid bills. It is going to end up a problem for her, and the rest of the family if they are not kept up with. Have a talk with her, get her to change her mind. You could always try to apply for her. See what you can do. I don't see any other options. Good luck. Best wishes.

1 mom found this helpful

Dee~~
I'm truely sorry to hear about your mom and the fact that she(and you)have to deal with not being able to get her insurance.
I say try the medicare/medicade but if that doesn't work than call the hospitals billing department and see what they say.They should be able to help...or someone at the hospital should help.
Hugs to you and your family and i'll keep you in my thoughts.
J.

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My mother in law was treated for small cell lung cancer first with chemo and then radiation once it went into her brain. Total treatment time was 9 months -- in that time, although she had insurance (Aetna), there were an additional $50k in bills for treatment/pain medicine that were NOT covered. After she met the maximum on her insurance, she applied for Access to cover the rest. I encourage you to talk to her about getting Access for insurance. It isn't as if she's chosen to quit her job just live off of everyone else as seems so common in the welfare system. Reason with her - she has paid into the system for so long - she deserves some of it back. She doesn't need to apply for cash assistance or food stamps if she doesn't want to, but health insurance is a different thing altogether as far as I'm concerned.

I don't know of another alternative unless you want to start asking around at the hospital about any available grants. There are sometimes people who specifically leave their estate to hospitals and foundations for that purpose. Also, some studies will give you free treatment if they are still considered to be in the "experimental" stages with the treatment.

I'm very sorry for your mother's diagnosis. This is very difficult to go through.

K. E.

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I work in health care. Please let your mom know that other people are on medical assistance too. I have many clients that are on medical assistance due to mental health diagnosis or physical disabilities. Some have private insurance and MA as a back up too. I lost both my father in law and mother in law to cancer. Had they not had insurance we would still be paying medical bills for years to come. Even with good insurance it didn't cover everything. It is hard for many people to ask for help or accept help, but with the costs of medical care I really think she needs to take MA. Some of the other programs people talked about are great but a lot will not help unless the person is turned down for medical assistance. From my experience they tell people to apply for MA first and if they can't get it then you will help with other options. MA is there is a reason.

I don't know if it is something that you have looked into yet, but does your mother have any life insurance? There are options with a lot of policies to take cash early and use it for what you need. Also you mentioned that you were worried about paying the bills after she has passed. You may want to look into getting her life insurance now. There are products out there for people in her situation. They will not be cheep products, but it could help your family.

If you would like more info on this, let me know and I will try to help.

I work in the insurance field and know how daunting it can be out there.

I will pray for your family!