Completely and totally disgusted.

[flightnurse2b]

i'm pregnant.

i'm moving from north carolina to florida in three weeks.

i am a nurse and i currently have health insurance.

because i'm leaving the state and my job, my insurance plan will terminate with my employment here in NC. because the rich fat cats in charge of the health care in this country consider pregnancy a "pre-existing condition" EVEN THOUGH I HAVE PROOF OF COVERAGE AT THE TIME OF CONCEPTION, i cannot get health insurance for another NINETY DAYS until my new employer's group coverage kicks in.. and even then, i can be denied.

i am pure sick to my stomach. i am completely and utterly disgusted with the health care system in this country.

so, now, because i make too much money for any assistance, and there is not one insurance company who can help me, i am going to go bankrupt to have this baby.

now i have to pay for COBRA, for an insurance company that NO provider in florida takes. what do i do? quit my job and not work so i can get on medicaid?? maybe then i can afford my prenatal vitamins???? i have to see a high risk OB bc of my asthma. can i afford that out of pocket? NO. and no one seems to want to help me.

i guess me and my baby don't DESERVE health insurance or prenatal care. shame on me for moving out of state and getting pregnant.

the HIPAA law says that pregnancy cannot be deemed a pre-existing condition for someone who has health care coverage at the time of conception. however, BCBS wants $500 a month plus a $2500 deductible and a $1500 maternity deductible. the guy at cigna said "there's nothing i can do for you", and hangs up.

for those of you who are opposed to universal health care because you think "its my money and i shouldnt have to help pay for anyone else and if you want insurance go get a good job like i did", i ask you to have a freaking heart. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY SHAMEFUL.

what am i supposed to do now????

the land of opportunity in deed.

here i am, a nurse, i spend every day of my life taking care of sick people. NO ONE WILL TAKE CARE OF ME@!!!!!!!!

:crying2::crying2::crying2:

[Kolohe99]

Allison,

:icon_hug: I wish I could help more, but I will keep you in my prayers along with our mutual friend.

As for the insurance, I know it varies from state to state but something just doesn't seem right about them being able to claim pregnancy as a pre-existing condition. My cousin is the insurance expert for the family business and I thought she told me that when people change jobs they can have seamless coverage as long as they had insurance from their previous employer. You also don't have to wait for the open enrollment period or have the pre-existing condition requirements.

I hope you managed to get some sleep. (((((Hugs)))))

Edited: (I see while I was typing this Donnetterr posted. She ought to know. That sounds like what I understood as long as you were going from one policy to another.)

[Hekate]

sounds like you need to contact a lawyer. they can help you through this process and will be well worth the money spent.

you need to go higher up. this "guy" is not the one who has the last say, rather most likely not willing (or can't) do anything for you. my husband used to be an insurance adjuster (not for healthcare, liablity for the commerical industry) and he told me many stories of where he technically had to deny a claim, but as soon as the client went through the chain of command, it was often reveresed.

i think this is probably very true! whatever the motivation of this individual (maybe just ignorant and misinterpreting the rules?), there is usually one or several ways around those so-called rules.

do try going higher up. you might also need to mention that since you were employed and covered by the insurance before the conception of your baby, your pregnancy is therefore not a pre-existing condition. (i can't believe they would dare put pregnancy in the same category as a chronic illness!!!!)

it is already bad enough that health insurance could have the right to turn down an applicant based on a chronic or existing illness-isn't it against the most basic human right???? but to deny you the coverage you have paid for every single month out of your pay-check is just so wrong and shocking that i can't find the words to express my feelings!!!

anyway, the point you might need to bring forward is that if they can't be reasonable about this issue, you are sure that the press would be very interested to ask them to publicly justify their decision!

i don't know if you have already left your job, but if you haven't, please hold still for now! usually, employees have access to law counseling or representation for free or at a fraction of the cost. if you are still employed, contact your hr and ask them about it. an attorney is what you might need the most right now!

either way, i think that contacting your local news agency, either by phone or email, would be a necessary move.

most news are also published on line now days, so if you look at the different articles, you will soon find out which reporter is most likely to be interested by your story depending on the pattern of subjects they cover.

they usually have their email at the end of each article, or at least, a comment box.they seem to read those comments ( i was once contacted by the journalist whom wrote the article after i commented about it).

having the public eye on them should be enough leverage to convince your health insurance to behave in a decent way.

but don't put all your eggs in the same basket and attack on several fronts: lawyer, press, contacting your deputy or other local politician etc...

i am very sorry that you have to go through this, it is absolutely unacceptable!

while i think the way the insurance companies are treating you is horrendous, i still don't support a nationalized healthcare system. sorry, i have very little faith in our government to run something like that adequately. you have yet to exhaust all of your resources to make sure your particular situation (as crappy as it is!) ends well, so don't give up! our current system is definatley in need of improvement, but nationalizing it is not the only option.

as far as this opinion is concerned, i absolutely disagree.

many countries have a national health care system, and even the most lousy ones (i.e:england) are still better off than americans! in many countries'chart of human rights stipulate that equal access to medical care is a basic human right!

it kills me when i hear those comments!

why do you think you are paying taxes!?

has it ever occurred to you to ask what the money you have contributed is really used for?

that is what taxes were originally set for! to pitch in for the good of our society as a whole! it's only when the whole community is fairly treated and helped when need be,that you can expect a decrease in crime rate, violence, illnesses, and an overall increase in education, employment etc.... it means that the tax money should be used in priority to provide health care and education at no or minimal cost to every single person in the country without consideration of income, race, age, disease process etc...

you never know what tomorrow might bring...if we are so evolved, how could we not understand the basic concept of community (which means put in common) for those difficult days each and every one of us might and will likely encounter??

i absolutely agree with you flightnurse2be, for a country supposetly so advanced, it is actually oddly still in the stone age in many regards!

i have lived in 3 countries having national health care, and i never had to complain about the care i received (and trust me, i have had many occasions to test their services).on the other hand, the private health coverage system in the us is a total headache, even for those who have full coverage. just to figure out what, where and when requires several hours of deciphering the insurance manuals. and when it comes to the many people falling between the cracks, i find horrendous to witness such a low level of concern for fellow human beings in 2009!

please open your eyes and look at the rest of the world! america doesn't hold the truth, and it is a fact that many nationalized health care systems are ranked much higher in terms of quality than the american system (google it, you'll see that i am not lying!).

ok i am done with my rant.

please do keep us posted about your progress , will you? who knows, if need be, a petition signed from all the nurses of this country might help?

good luck and try to stay calm! when is your due date?

[flightnurse2b, LPN]

Pregnant women MUST be added to a new group insurance policy with no lapse in coverage or exclusion per federal law. Pregnancy trumps employer policy per federal law, when going from one GROUP policy to another GROUP policy. Also, coverage under your former employer's group policy will be offered to you as required based on COBRA.

Now, if you are trying to buy an individual policy, there may be an exclusion, but going from one group policy to another, you can not be denied or made to adhere to a waiting policy.

I'm an employee benefits analyst.

thank you so much for this info! this is very helpful for me. i hardly slept at all last night, i am so worried about this. i have lost a pregnancy already at 5 months and i want to make sure i have coverage so that i can make sure my baby is healthy and i'm healthy.

so if i tell my employer i am pregnant, they can offer me COBRA for the time being without exclusion (even if the premium is thru the roof), and then when i sign on at HCA i can get right on their group policy without a waiting period? that is excellent news. i feel alot better.

if i cannot afford the COBRA and/or i cannot get any coverage in FL (which i am afraid of since medcost is a network only here in the carolina's).... would the lapse in coverage for 60 days or whatever disqualify me?

thanks in advance!!!

[Sunqueen]

THe real problem is that you are moving to Florida. THe $500 for BCBS is realtively cheap considering you have asthma, let alone are pregnant. When my husband was laid off we decided to go with the $750 Humana private plan with $5000 deductable, rather than the $1500 COBRA.

Before you decide to go with the COBRA, find a doctor, find out if they take your insurance and then call the insurance company to check the out of network charges. Florida doctors and insurance companies seem to have a very on and off relationship. The doctor you saw last week may not take your insurance this week and the company's provider list is never right.

Florida is truely insurance h**l - health, property and even auto.

[Aneroo, LPN]

1- Congrats!

2- I didn't know you were in NC!

3- Go up the chain with the insurance companies. Write everything down. After my Dad needed cardioversion after his CABG, the insurance refused to pay the anesthesia bill. He finally got it taken care of- after he wrote the CEO of the company to tell him he'll pay the bill after the CEO gets 360 joules of electricity pumped to his heart without sedation.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

COBRA will cover your pregnancy without any exclusion. The question is this: can you move to Florida and be covered by that COBRA coverage due to moving out of the insurance company's service area.

[ERnewbieRN, BSN, RN]

Ugh, stuff like this totally disgusts me. People who work hard their whole lives (and might I add, especially people who work their butts off taking care of other people!) get no help whatsoever, and those who sit on their @$$es taking advantage of the system don't have to pay a red cent toward the illnesses they get from having poor lifestyles that they shouldn't be able to afford. GRRR! I hope you find a way to make this work. Good luck with the move, the new job, and most of all the new baby!