![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by leslieamy8 on September 30, 2005, at 0:50:13
I was wondering if any of you out there that know anything about being on SSI and how a job would affect it? I was recently offered a full-time job and was doing the math. My understanding is that once you start working those kind of hours that all benifits including your meicaid are gone. The big problem for me here is the fact that I cannot find insurance that will cover my "preexisting" illnesses which means no more therapy,no more pdoc.,and no more meds. This job is the opportunity of a lifetime because I don't know if when my review comes up in the next 7 months I will be not renewed. I'm worried that if I turn it down I won't have the ability to interview for the position again. Bet I also know that without the above mentioned items I won't be around to worry about the outcome. Any helpful advice or insight? Thank you to all of you willing to take the time to respond.
~Amy
~Amy
Posted by Racer on September 30, 2005, at 2:12:27
In reply to stuck between a rock and a hard place, posted by leslieamy8 on September 30, 2005, at 0:50:13
I thought that my depression, etc, wouldn't be covered, but it turns out that the insurance company has a list of Preexisting Conditions -- if your diagnosis ain't on that list, it ain't no preexisting condition.
Cool, huh? Probably the only thing related to health insurance that counts in our favor! My husband's diabetes is not a PC, my depression, anxiety, arthritis, anorexia, etc -- not PC. Everything that we need insurance for is covered.
Mostly, the preexisting condition exclusions are things like cancer, where there's a huge expenditure in a short time. Chronic conditions are a different matter.
I hope that helps, you might call a couple of insurance brokers who handle health insurance and ask them if your various and sundry dxs count as PCs for most of their companies.
Good luck.
Posted by gardenergirl on September 30, 2005, at 7:22:19
In reply to But what is listed as a preexisting condition?, posted by Racer on September 30, 2005, at 2:12:27
Racer seems to have good coverage, and her insurance must be from a state which has mental health parity laws. She's lucky. My state does not have mental health parity as a requirement in their insurance laws.
If your state does not have mental health parity, then mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar, anxiety, etc. usually DO become pre-existing conditions if you've been treated for them within the past twelve months.
There is a House Bill to correct this on a national level, in a similar way that Cobra laws eliminated pre-existing conditions for physical illnesses (provided you had continuous insurance coverage for the last 12 months), but it so far has not passed.
Leslieamy8, can you find out what insurance company administers the insurance at this job? Depending on what state it comes out of, you might not have to worry about pre-existing conditions. Can you ask someone in the office where you get treatment to help you investigate this as far as whether you will have to wait a year or not? And also ask what options there might be for community mental health or a sliding fee scale if you do have to wait a year before getting covered.
Whatever you decide, I hope it works out well. It sounds like a great opportunity.
gg
Posted by alexandra_k on October 1, 2005, at 23:35:34
In reply to Re: But what is listed as a preexisting condition?, posted by gardenergirl on September 30, 2005, at 7:22:19
The beauty of the current dx system is that there are so many dx's that are so very similar to one another...
So...
All you need is to get the insurance...
Then get someone to dx you with something you haven't been dx'd with before.
:-)
Shouldn't be so verrrrrrrrrry hard.
I think...
Most clinician's are willing to do this
(crappy managed care etc etc)Might be worth looking into anyways...
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Psychology | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.