[BeyondtheRainbow]

I have spent the last 4 months trying to get my medicaid update done. There were huge delays because they didn't update my address, despite being told twice (it changed by one number and they weren't careful), didn't return calls, and then needed everything immediately. I got everything in 2 weeks ago with 7/31 being my end of grace period deadline thanks to them and was denied. I called to find out why and it was because they never removed the house I do not own nor live in and haven't for 2 years from my paperwork. Nor did they bother to ever ask about this "asset". So now I have to apply from the beginning.

In my old county I never had problems. Are most people on medicaid constantly frustrated or is it this county?

[Angelique67]

Medicaid was a nightmare in Chicago. But it wasn't as bad in NYC or where I live now. I think overall it's difficult at best, but in some areas practically impossible.

[ensconce]

I got mine easily, my problem is finding someone close that is still accepting patients, most that are accepting are usually very new with maybe a few years of experience out of college like mine.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Mine is ok. Im getting medicare in November and will have to figure it all out in October. Im confused and annoyed trying to understand it

[cakeladie]

It's hell here in California

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I only have spenddown so I can use it anywhere which is much easier. If I had to use it all the time the only way to see a good dr would be to go to the teaching hospital 2.5 hours away for everything. Which I did when I was uninsured so I could do it but it is a pain.I go there already for my pdoc and one trip per month is enough. From everything I've read I'm so glad I have Medicare and more choices with that.

Originally Posted by ensconce

I got mine easily, my problem is finding someone close that is still accepting patients, most that are accepting are usually very new with maybe a few years of experience out of college like mine.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

Mine is ok. Im getting medicare in November and will have to figure it all out in October. Im confused and annoyed trying to understand it

Once you get Medicare going it's not that bad and the coverage is pretty good. Labs are free which is nice (and confused me at first when I wasn't billed for them). I have A, B and D.

Figuring out Med D was the hardest part for me. This is my 2nd year and I did much better this time with getting a provider. I don't pay anything for most of my scripts (I get the expensive ones through patient assistance programs so only use Med D for generics) and what I do pay is usually less than $10. I will admit to stumbling into this provider though; I thought I signed up for a different one but this one is really good.

My other providers were able to stay the same although I pay for my therapist out of pocket at a decreased rate for low income. That helped a lot.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I got the application in. I am so mad it was better to just do it and get it over with than it was to wait and stay mad about it. Since I just did it all a few months ago everything was together and it wasn't quite as hard although I do wish I didn't have a bunch of savings accounts to help with budgeting. So in theory in another month I should get my Medicaid spenddown back which is good because if I wind up in the hospital I will need that to help with my part of the cost and with my meds being precarious that is not impossible.

Still such a pain that never should have happened. Especially since my 2014 review went through fine and I didn't own that house then either. Either this caseworker is more thorough and accurate (probably since the last one was even harder to deal with) or she is overly picky (which it feels like after everything she made me produce and still missed this major house thing).

[ensconce]

Originally Posted by BeyondtheRainbow

I got the application in. I am so mad it was better to just do it and get it over with than it was to wait and stay mad about it. Since I just did it all a few months ago everything was together and it wasn't quite as hard although I do wish I didn't have a bunch of savings accounts to help with budgeting. So in theory in another month I should get my Medicaid spenddown back which is good because if I wind up in the hospital I will need that to help with my part of the cost and with my meds being precarious that is not impossible.

Still such a pain that never should have happened. Especially since my 2014 review went through fine and I didn't own that house then either. Either this caseworker is more thorough and accurate (probably since the last one was even harder to deal with) or she is overly picky (which it feels like after everything she made me produce and still missed this major house thing).

Did you do it online or in person with someone?

[BeyondtheRainbow]

online. If I had to face my caseworker right now I would probably not be extremely polite. All she had to do was ask for a photocopy of the title transfer from my house and she instead screwed things up (plus the 5 months of delays and unanswered questions that got me to this point). Since I did it all before and then it was deleted I had everything in a folder or knew how to quickly access it. But I still can't believe I had to do it. If she gives me a hard time in this application process I'll probably burst into tears and I hate crying in front of people.

[ensconce]

Some caseworkers are really bad, some are really good. The bad ones take a long time to do much or they never send paperwork. Its a real gamble sometimes.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I figured this one was better because at least her message didn't include "and don't call me about this again" which the prior one who I think retired did include. I waited a month and called again and 3 weeks after that she called me.

This one returns calls within a month, usually, but never in time to actually get things done and there were things like not changing my address despite a written notification so that my stuff wasn't being mailed to me and they refused to accept responsibility for that despite having stamped the letter with the new address.

She has my spenddown all messed up too. I had surgery a year ago and have paid my spenddown amount. Rather than doing the math she called the hospital and they told her my total due right now and she's considering that what I've paid toward spenddown. So I have to deal with her again to tell her that. And she should know better since I've sent in all the bills. This time I'm going to go through and highlight what I paid before I drop it off and maybe she'll see how ridiculous this is. It's not a huge deal, my spenddown was barely met, but $100 is a lot of money if I went even that far over.

In my old county they just called and politely asked for things when needed and deadlines never even came up because they were on track. one county away and things are out of control. And it's not like this county is more poor than the old one; I'm in Appalachia, all the counties are poor.

I think the worst part is that I feel ignored and devalued because I'm asking for help from people who are not helpful and so I feel looked down upon whereas my last county never made me feel I was accepting "charity" (even though I got more from that county). These people make me feel like I'm not worth bothering with.

Oh well. It should be worked out in a month unless they mess with me more. And at some point I file a state appeal which I'll clearly win because I have nothing but my SSDI income.

[CopperStar]

Medicaid sent me multiple different insurance cards/plans, and I had to figure out which was active and which wasn't. Then they cancelled some but no others without telling me. They would also send me letters in the mail talking about things they received that I never sent, or things they needed that I had already done. It was flustering and hysterical at the same time after a while. I started collecting the faulty insurance cards and would joke every time I got an envelope from them that Blue Cross must be next.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

CopperStar that sounds about right. I don't get cards unless I meet my spenddown in a month (which means I've had surgery or been IP) but they can't even take the old bills and add up what I have paid to get the amount paid toward spenddown. It's like they are picking random numbers. And wanting random paperwork over and over again. They even had me make Capital One produce a letter that Capital One has "never done before" and required me to go through layers of security at the call center to get to talk to someone who knew who could help and could arrange it (it was very 007). There are a lot of people on Medicaid, somehow I think if it was reasonable Capital One would have come up with it before.

If she doesn't use all the stuff I've submitted lately and makes me re-do all that I'm going to be so mad. I feel like just sending it to her so I don't get another letter in 2 months telling me I have 15 minutes to get 75 pages of information to them.

I think I have anger issues over this.....