So while I await a hearing date..my next question for any of you is this...
I am currently receiving COBRA for my health insurance...What happens when that 18 month time runs out?? Obviously I have to have health insurance...should I start looking for my own insurance? Will I get "penalized" for having a pre-existing condition (I have Rheumatoid Arthritis) and have to get very expensive medications. COBRA is expensive and I hope that if I have to get my own insurance that it won't be as much as COBRA is!!
I know I can get Medicare at some point if/when I get approved for SSDI, not sure how that works either...
Any suggestions on what/who to start my search would be greatly appreciated!!
Since you have not been approved by SS for SSDI, you are not eligible for the disability extension. There is a 50% admin. charge after the 18 months though and not the 2% you are paying now. Ouch!
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If the individual is deemed disabled by the Social Security Administration, cobra coverage may continue for up to 29 months.
When did you apply for SSDI? What level are you currently at in the SSDI process. How are you currently paying for the cobra? Are you on LTD. I know Cobra is pretty expensive. Most people simply can not afford the premium. I was able to carry the insurance I had when I was working for 2 years after LTD became effective. I pay the medical insurance premium with the monthly LTD benefit.
Last edited by BlueSkies14; 10-28-2011 at 01:04 PM.
My initial date I applied is 2/22/11 I am at the hearing level waiting for a date. I am on LTD ben from my previous employer I pay $750 a month for COBRA which is insane!!
$750 a month is so much money ! What is your date of onset? Remember that is what social security will use when you are approved. It does not go by the date you filed. You got to the hearing stage pretty fast . After your approved for SSDI it takes 24 months plus the 5 month waiting period .But, social security will go by your date of onset. Many people can gt medicare right away due to their date of onset.
I started having symptoms Jan of 2010 I went on FMLA Oct 15, 2010 Started getting LTD monthly payments Feb 2011 as well as filing for SSDI at that time..
The group that is handling my appeal told me that instead of the reconsideration level they received notice to prepare for healing level.. that's why it seems fast because they skipped a level why I'm not sure I've heard from on here that some states are trialing getting rid of the reconsideration level... maybe that's my case..
That Cobra coverage is outrageous HDrydr ($750 / month / ouch), but I can understand the need to carry the coverage due to some chronic medical condition(s). If the SSA agrees with your SSDI AOD (2/22/11) once they approve you, you'd be eligible for medicare 5 full months (disability waiting period) + 2 years after the AOD = August 2013. (best case scenario). When will your 18 months of Cobra be exhausted? The thing about the Cobra extension is that your premium will go up from $750 due to the 50% admin charge instead of the 2% you are paying now. How much of the $750 you're paying now is the 2%? Do you know?
Yeah, there are somes states that bypass level 2. After being denied at level 1, you go to level 3.
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Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania and North and West Los Angeles, California. In these states, when a claim is denied at the initial level, the next appeal level is the hearing level.
Are you sure about California? When I was going through the process it had the reconsderation ? Are those the states that do have it
No, I am not sure Mscat. This is what Allsup says on their website. I am not sure how old the info was when it was posted. HDrydr says she is in Wisconsin and they now bypass reconsideration after level 1 and Allsup does not list that state.
My initial date I applied is 2/22/11 I am at the hearing level waiting for a date. I am on LTD ben from my previous employer I pay $750 a month for COBRA which is insane!!
Your time frame is not so bad since you initially filed Feb 2011 & 8 months later you are in hold for the ALJ. Most I've read around here have had 18m - over 2 years before they got a seat at the ALJ. My original filing date was March 2010....
Those COBRA payments are insane. You may want to check in your state to see if there is a health care fund set up for the "indigent". Again, keep in mind each state defines indigent on its own. You may qualify & it may be free, but state is different, so some may have a sliding scale, some free once a certain threshold is met - etc. Nearly all states (if not all) have it to some degree. Check with your state house member ofc, since this would be a fund collected (usually in real estate tax bills) & sent on to the state to divvy up for the various needs of the county.
Also, check with your local United Way. They can possibly point you in the direction your are looking for - and I just remembered, there are some states that are doing the 'Hospital/Medical assistance without walls' programs. Thats not the exact name of the program but its "________ without walls". you may have read about it in many states that are in dire need.. Louisiana, Nevada, are a couple that come to mind that have been in the news - volunteer doctors & nurses helping those without insurance... (then many times take it upon themselves when life threatening issues arise, to handle the follow up with out the aid of the dollar or the insurance -- if they can.
Sorry about this dup....didn't think it went thru...
Now I don't know if WI is one of those states that skip for sure or not... maybe I happen to be a test per say... so take it with a grain of salt and don't count on skipping if you live here.
I guess I'll start calling health insurance companies soon as I'll need to know what they will charge with a pre-existing condition.
I hope you can find better health insurance , Cobra is way too expensive each month , i know I could not afford that . 8 months is very fast , so it maybe your state does not have the recon level.
Yeah, there are somes states that bypass level 2. After being denied at level 1, you go to level 3.
I filed and won a case in Alabama. After the 1st denial an appeal had to filed. This was done online by my lawyer. A couple months later after the 2nd denial my lawyer asked for a hearing. The application to hearing process took about 27 months.
Yeah, this is the typical SSDI timeline for most ppl egkenny. My SSDI path was similar to yours except I was approved a little quicker than yourself. From initial application to approval took approx. 20 months for me.
When I was trying to get my ssdi I needed test to show how I meet listing 4.12 b I went to the health clinic and paid $25 to see a dr. Well he was only a regular md so he sent me to a hospital and I got charity to get my teat done. Then he sent me to see a vascular surgeon he knew at Loyola hospital in Chicago and I got 6mts. Of free medical through them. So thats how I won my ssdi case in one year.
Last edited by Administrator; 03-07-2013 at 10:17 AM.
