Insurance Matters

[michael-morale]

Hey Kevin – I was under the same situation. When I started my disability, after 2 years on permanent disability, everyone becomes eligible for Medicare.

[kevin-schaefer]

Thanks Michael. Are you still on full disability? I was just curious how all that works.

[deann-r]

I do have to say that when I was dropped from my Dad’s insurance I noticed that things took longer to get approved and choices were a bit more limited.  Overall my services have stayed the same.  Like Michael said you may qualify for Medicare since you’ve been working. Medicare is my primary with Medicaid secondary.

[kevin-schaefer]

Good to know. Yeah I am looking into Medicare.

[ryan-berhar-2]

I’m 22, but my dad wants me to start paying for my health insurance, as I have some income now. I detest my private insurance, because they don’t cover anything. I’m not giving them a dime. I’m either going to rely on just Medicaid, or there’s also another option recommended to me called community solutions.

[kevin-schaefer]

Yeah it seems like most insurance companies are getting worse, and Medicaid has been really helpful in recent years. Good luck.

[jenny-rellick]

You cannot purchase private health insurance when you are on Medicaid.  That has been the law for decades. If you are you are a dependant on your parent’s income taxes, most employer-sponsored health insurance plans allow adult disabled children to stay on their parent’s policy so long as they are tax dependents.  The tax code has an age limit, but it makes an exception adult disabled children. Your Dad should call HR at work to certify that you are disabled and a dependent on his taxes before you age-out.  Unfortunately, you may have to constrain yourself when spending your own money because your parents have to provide more support to you than you and the government combined do. Consult a tax account with a CPA–not H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt– and make an appointment to discuss the rule, compliance, and strategies for saving for your future without falling afoul of the tax regulations.

 

[deann-r]

Jenny brings up a good point.  After college when I was dropped from my dad’s insurance we found out later I could have stayed on it.  Something to check into for some individuals.

[kevin-schaefer]

That’s good to know. Thanks Jenny.

[kelly-miller]

Medicaid requires you to be eligible for anything else that you can before they will pay for anything. If you are eligible for your father’s insurance, Medicaid will insist that you take it in order to stay eligible with them. If you’re eligible for Medicare, then Medicaid will insist you take that as well.

Question: can you get insurance from your own employer? I worked for the federal govt & got insurance there. Now that I’m out on disability, I have Medicare as my primary & my employer’s Blue Cross as my secondary. For the last 8 years, I’ve been involved in a Medicare Advantage program. It’s like an HMO for Medicare was a wonderful group of doctors and Blue Cross picks up what they don’t. I haven’t had to pay a dime since 2010, and I’ve had numerous very expensive hospital stays & outpatient surgeries that would have cost a fortune in deductibles & such.

[nell-buckelew]

Yes, you can shift for Medicare insurance, but before finalizing any Medicare insurance plan, I would suggest you to have a word with the professional insurance providing company like The Health Exchange Agency. This can help you in selecting the right insurance for yourself and things can become much easy for you. As being a professional agent, they can also help you in clearing all your doubts related to any insurance plan. Last month, my uncle has consulted the same team and ended up buying Medicare advantage plan C insurance at the lowest possible price.

[kevin-schaefer]

Thanks for the advice! I’ll definitely look into this.