Trying to make it all stretch

I recently stopped working again, due to termination, and went back on SSDI. The SSDI I get is really good but still doesn't cover my bills. I am trying so hard to make it all stretch. I'm using every benefit I can but I don't know how I'm going to afford Medicare premiums on top of my bills already.

I get too much from SSDI to qualify for most other benefit programs. I'm doing some freelance work part-time, but it's not even making a dent, and I can't go over a certain monthly limit or I'll get kicked off SSDI.

I'm not sure what to do anymore. I'm definitely about to reach an impasse.

I have been looking for full-time work, but I moved to this city for the job that I got laid off from, and there's just not a lot of opportunity for the type of work I did here. It's a very competitive field. And I can't afford, financially or psychologically, to move right now to try and find work.

I just don't know what to do anymore.

Something has got to give. And I'm just afraid it's going to be me.

Seesaw

I would encourage you to make a distinction between expenditures you must make to keep body and soul together here and now and "bills." Bills often are for expenditures made in the past that perhaps involved living beyond one's means. Sometimes it is necessary, practical and simply in one's best interests to default.

It is not against the law to default on paying bills. Providing yourself with food and shelter right now comes first. Servicing consumer debt need not be top priority. Medicare premiums have to take priority over any consumer debt you may be trying to pay.

I appreciate the thought but I do not live beyond my means and I know how to prioritize my bills and responsibilities.

You need to prioritize Medicare premiums. They don't come after "bills." They are the most important financial obligation. I've seen threads where people have gotten in real financial trouble by failing to do that. Don't they automatically take out for Medicare, so you have no choice?

I'm on SSDI. I don't pay any Medicare premiums - I guess because I'm low enough on income. I have all I need of life's essentials. I pay no consumer debt because I defaulted on it when I got disabled. I have a friend who starves herself because she says "Before food, I have to pay bills." I think that's poor self-care.

I'm glad to hear you live within your means. Good luck with your work search.

I don't have a premium for part a or b, b I do for part d. And yes, rent and other bills do come before medicare. Medicare won't do me a damn good if I'm homeless. Please don't tell me how I'm supposed to spend my small ssdi allowance. You have no idea the needs or responsibilities I have.

People on Medicare only pay about $3-10 per office visit copay and between $1-5 for the cost of their prescriptions. Do you mean that you pay more than that? Or are you paying for COBRA right now under your former employer's heath insurance plan?

I don't know how SSI or Medicare works so I can't help you there.

All I can offer is to call each of your creditors (credit card, utility company, cellphone carrier) and work out payment plans with them. They are very flexible as long as their customer contacts them and asks for payment arrangements.

Thanks, cielpur. I don't really need advice. I have done already what you are suggesting, and appreciate the suggestion again. I was just posting in hopes of finding others who are in a similar situation and can simply offer support and understanding of how tough it is.

Oh, sorry. Well, although I am not on SSI, I offer you support for what you are going through. It's tough to be in a situation where you're vulnerable financially. That is one of the worst situations to be in. I can relate (as you know from this summer) in that way. Just hang in there. Hopefully we'll both find full time jobs that fulfill us, pay our bills, and leave a little extra for savings.

Get yourself a Medicare Advantage plan. Here's a link showing some plans in Florida":

https://health.usnews.com/medicare/f...medicare-plans

If you drop your Medicare Part D coverage, which is an option for you, you will hurt yourself financially down the road. That's why I say you can't afford to do that now, especially if you are struggling, due to a limited income. Here's a link and an excerpt:

https://www.aarp.org/health/medicare...estion_70.html

"Even a person with the healthiest lifestyle suddenly can be struck by an unforeseen disease or an accidental injury that requires expensive drugs to treat. Some drugs, especially for cancer, can cost thousands of dollars a month. You are not allowed to enroll or re-enroll in Part D, outside the annual open enrollment period, just because you suddenly develop an urgent medical need for prescription drugs and cannot afford to pay the full price out of pocket."

I urge you to read the article at this last link very closely, so you understand the longterm penalty you might bring on yourself, if you drop Part D. At least know the consequences.

I apologize for sounding like I'm uncaring of the difficulty you face in trying to do the best you can in a very tough situation. It's true that I don't know the particulars of your specific situation. What I do know is that the system has been purposely set up so that just about no one can blow off Medicare Part D, without regretting doing that down the road. I, myself, do not have to pay any Part D premium, which indicates that my income is even lower than yours. So I, too, struggle with trying to keep a roof over my head. Before I got SSDI, I was suicidal from fear of homelessness.

I also don't know much about Florida. I suspect that it may not be the easiest place to try to get by on a very limited income. Politics can have something to do with that. I live in a blue state where public policy about helping low income persons access healthcare is much better than it is in red states. Also cost of living is lower here than in most places. (Your air conditioning bill alone must be quite a burden.)

Since you've been on and off and on SSDI, you must be making a valiant effort to remain employed, despite a major health issue. Many who could don't bother. I commend you for that. You probably could have just thrown in the towel. (I did.)

I'm sorry you got laid off, after moving to take the job. How disheartening! You are considering a kind of complicated set of options, due to your wanting to work and earn what you can. It's less complicated for me because I'm not going to even try to work. I do qualify for just about every benefit out there, from Section 8 housing subsidy to a subsdized telephone line.

You should do whatever, in your own judgement, makes the most sense to you. It's not for me to say. I'm sorry for coming off that way. Let your judgement be informed by knowledge of and consideration of consequences, both short and long term. It's obvious that you're intelligent. Sometimes, when we compare our options, we find there isn't an option that doesn't have a serious downside. That is dismaying. It's tough to go through that when you are sincerely trying to do your best, as I believe you are.

Thanks, Rose, for you kind words.

Unfortunately I can't go into more detail about my finances here.

I don't think I will be hit with a penalty on Part D because when I became eligible for Medicare I had insurance through work. Then I lost my job. This is the first period I've been able to enroll in Part D. And it is a priority within my budget to pay for the premiums. I'm just very sensitive to people telling me I shouldn't spend money here or there. The fact of the matter is that my SSDI (not SSI) is too much to allow me to qualify for most other welfare benefits. I just qualified for SNAP but I only qualify for $15 a month, so that should help me buy toilet paper.

People like to blame you when the expenses get more than what you bring in, but it's not always that person's fault. I liquidated over $35,000 in savings 5 years ago to pay for hospitalizations and medical treatment. I have to make the decisions that are the best for me and my situation. I recognize that, due to my hard work and ambition, when I had to go on SSDI, at least I had a high-paying enough job that I can still pay my rent each month with my SSDI. I know people who don't qualify for SSDI and only get SSI and get very little each month. At least I can still live on my own (for the time being). I'm just trying to keep things from getting worse and, hopefully, find a way to make them better. I don't think I deserve to be criticized for that.

I've been considering a Part C plan versus a Part D plan. I have actually already read that article you linked to...I've been doing a lot of medicare research lately. I have to say, that for government publications, the latest guide to medicare is actually quite easy to understand. I have to call Medicare tomorrow because I need to clarify a couple of questions before I make my decision, but at least I will then be covered starting January 1 again.

Again, thank you for taking the time to link to those resources and your kind words of support. I appreciate it.

Seesaw

Hi Seesaw, how did you qualify for only $15 for SNAP? I think you must be mistaken.

SNAP has an income cap of $1200 a month. And, you can't buy toilet paper with SNAP either. Only food items. And certain food items.

SNAP usually allots people a max of $200 a month for food which is on a Debit card.

Households CANNOT use SNAP benefits to buy:
Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco.

Any nonfood items, such as:

pet foods
soaps, paper products.
household supplies.
vitamins and medicines.
foods that will be eaten in the store.
hot foods.

I don't think you have SNAP because if you did, you'd have to make less than $1200K a month with your SSDI. And the Medicare Part D is for prescription discounts. Sorry, I support you going through a rough time, but even I don't get SNAP and I make far less than you do with two jobs. Please don't make statements that just aren't true. Some of us have had SNAP and know the rules. There's no way you would just awarded $15 a month for SNAP.

I did just get awarded $15 a month in SNAP benefits, I assure you. I can show you the damn paperwork. Please don't tell me I'm mistaken. And it is based on income but it's also based on your household bills. I know what I'm talking about. I've been through the whole financial interview and submitted all the proper information and I have a LETTER from my state department of children and families awarding me $15 a month in SNAP benefits. They work differently from state to state so it may be different in your state than mine.

I stand corrected. I found this government website which proves what you say is true -- that SNAP benefits differ state by state. So...my apologies. I'm very sensitive about it, having gone through hell last spring and this summer.

I have to laugh. You and I are both going through hell right now and very sensitive about it. I think we get defensive because we're both doing everything we can to get through it and we just want some compassion and understanding. We don't necessarily need advice, we just need someone who gets it and someone to say: "yup, it sucks. I validate that your situation SUCKS right now. You will get through it. I'm here for you."

Seesaw

Yep! That's exactly it! Again, sorry for jumping to conclusions based on my own hard path. That's what the folks call "projection." Whoops.

Let's all console each other. I get exactly $25 a month from SNAP. I think $15 comes from the federal government and $10 from my state. The reason there is variation from state to state is because states can choose if they even want to add to the federal amount and by how much. Like I said, seesaw, Florida is not the best place to be poor in.

I figure that $25/month comes out to $300/year. I look at that as expanding my annual budget by $300, which I can spend anyway I want. (I can't use the actual EBT card for wine. But I do buy about $25 worth of wine a month that I couldn't afford, unless I got that SNAP subsidy.) So I figure SNAP gets me my wine.

Cheers, everone! Happy hour is upon us.

LOVE IT! SNAP wine!

Medicare Part C and "Medicare Advantage Plan" mean the same thing. Looks like we're on the same page as far as how to optimize your Medicare dollars. Most financially strapped people do best on an Advantage program. I'm not on one for two reasons: for people as poor as me, the federal gov't provides assistance through the "Extra Help" program. So I don't have to worry much about prescription costs. I only pay a very small co-pay. Here's a link about that program:

https://www.ssa.gov/medicare/prescriptionhelp/

The place to apply for the "Extra Help" Part D program is at your Social Security office, (not at Income Support.) (Usually the federal government contacts you to tell you you're eligible. Since you haven't heard, you might not be poor enough. But read up on it and see what you think.)

The other reason I don't get in an Advantage program is that, in my county, there is a special program giving me access to the state university hospital system. I have no copays.

I also get a special limited form of Medicaid. It pays my Part B premium for me. For that I do have to regularly submit income documentation to my local state Income Support office. Again, the federal government notified me about that benefit.

I put this stuff here for the edification of anyone glancing at the thread. A lot of people are very confused about this stuff. I've got some of it clearly figured out.

SNAP is the same state to state. The minimum you can receive is $15, the max is think is $194. You can purchase most food items. What you can't buy is prepared food like a rotisserie chicken.

I tend to leave mail unopened for quite a while. Well, both my S.O. and I got notices saying we'ld be having to start paying premiums for our Part D Prescription coverages, which cost us zero premium in 2017. Now we know how you feel, seesaw.

I got him moved into a "dual" plan that combines Medicare and Medicaid and pescription coverage - all for zero premium. (Talk about down to the wire. Today is Dec. 7. Whew.)

I had to move to a different prescription plan that would charge me zero premium, which my current plan was not going to keep doing. Funny thing is both plans are from the same company.

If you have an Advantage Plan for Medicare, then you must get your prescription coverage from the same plan. Socking subscribers with these non-zero premium is a disgrace. The insurance companies should, instead, be leaning on the drug companies to reduce what they charge. They have the leverage to do it. But, noooooh, they got to put the squeeze on folks getting SSDI and regular Social Security.