Insurance craziness

[PositiveMS]

I applied for LTD back after my flare last summer. I actually went almost 5 months without pay. I had to get help from my parents for rent and bills, and lived pretty frugally.

Today my Insurance said I had finally been approved for back pay. That is great, but it leaves me wondering what people do if they are on their own and have no income?

I supposed you then go to the government for help? It's made me think. I imagine I'm not alone in this boat.....

[misslux]

People go on provincial and federal disability if they don't have STD or LTD.

I don't have STD or LTD and work for myself. When the time comes that I can't work, provincial and federal are my only options.

[mjan]

I am sorry you have been struggling. I wonder why you had to wait for 5 months for LTD? I thought it show flow from short term to long term? Mine did.

BUT not only do some folks have to wait, like you, they have no other form of income it is so difficult. AND while you wait for Medicare to start 2 years after being approved for SSDI, it is horrible.

Now with ACA-Obamacare, you don't have to wait for other insurance to start if you change your job, you can keep your insurance from last job. And I guess you won't have to wait for Medicare to kick in after being approved for SSDI. I know, I had to go w/out ins for 5 months and just about used up my whole little savings.

Glad your family was able to help out.

Warmly, Jan

[onlyairfare]

I had to hire an attorney to sue my STD/LTD carrier in order to get them to pay when I was out of work for 4 months. A year later, when I had been back at work for 8 months, they finally paid up. Then they rescinded my policy.

There are some real bad actors in the insurance industry.

My husband continued to work and we borrowed money from relatives, as this occurred shortly after another financial disaster and our savings had already been depleted. Not much of a safety net in the US.

[PositiveMS]

mjan: I had to wait 5 months because I only started this job about two years ago, and my insurance guy said they needed to contact all doctors I had seen in the last three years. That was a lot of mailing back and forth.

I did feel like they were not exactly hurrying.

I'm in Canada, so no Obamacare for me, but it's good to hear that people are being looked after in the US!

onlyairfare: Sorry you had a rough go of it! I agree that there are some bad eggs in the insurance industry! The guy I dealt with seemed nice enough, but I also got the sense he had no idea what it felt like to be without income.

[PositiveMS]

I should add that we do have a safety net in Canada, LTD from the government, but I did not want to start that while waiting for work insurance to kick in, because then that would have complicated everything. Also would have been more paperwork and doctors notes and I honestly didn't have the heart to do it all twice.

The worst part of the waiting was that there was no guarantee that I would be approved. Insurance have all sorts of quirky requirements.

I do have some anger about it all, because obviously I never wanted to have a flare and be off work. It should have been smoother. A person should not be recuperating from a huge thing like that with money worries hanging over their heads!

I also got the sense that insurance was looking for a loophole where they could deny me.

K, that's my little rant. I'm done