I continued IV therapies up until June 30th the last day I had my health insurance. They were leaving me feel weary and fatigued but not as extreme as the first few. I felt beyond fatigued from a combination of the IV therapies, working as many days as I could and the constant pain.
And this was the aftermath...when you're vein rejects the needle. Thankfully this was as it was coming out and not going in! I was pretty sure I lost a layer of skin each time I did an IV infusion from the adhesive from all the tape! But on the upside, I wouldn't have any arm left =) People pay lots of money for waxing...who needs that when you're hooked up to an IV for 4 hours =p
The end of June was a whirlwind - over the course of 4 days (post Hopkins appointment) I found out I was denied Medicaid because -- ready for this? -- I make too much money from receiving disability. They determined to be medically disabled then denied me health coverage under Medicaid because I "make too much" since they consider Social Security Disability to be income. I could go on a tangent forever about this...but instead it seemed like it might work out better because Medicaid wasn't good coverage. Only my allergist took it and my medications weren't covered. So it would've meant starting all over with new doctors, including a PCP which, when I'm in the condition I'm in, is going to be more of a headache than a benefit!
I had lined up an individual insurance plan with Horizon to go into effect July 1st, since I got no response from Medicaid (after I applied 3 months prior!). But during my appointment at Hopkins they told us having an individual insurance plan that didn't cover out of state may cause a problem trying to get admitted as a self-pay. To get into the program as a self-pay, I would have to be admitted through the ER and they would see that I have insurance in Jersey and say, "there's no need to go to Maryland when you can go to an ER in New Jersey." This sounded really precarious to me. I feared getting there and getting sent home instead of getting admitted.
I real quick had to figure out if I needed to cancel the Horizon plan before it went into effect so I had no insurance if that was what I needed to do to get into Hopkins. Unfortunately, the person at Hopkins I needed to talk to about this was out of the office all week! I spent 3 out of those 4 days on the phone, leaving countless messages, emailing, and trying to get an answer. This was only the beginning of the rollercoaster ride I went on...
I turned 26 on June 28th, a few days after my Hopkins appointment. I got to go out to dinner with my friends the night before, and on my actual birthday went to a comedy show. It was nice, but I really felt like I was holding my breath and carrying a 50 lb weight on my shoulder with all of this hanging over my head. On June 29th I finally spoke to someone at Hopkins and found out that there is 3-4 wait list. So keeping the Horizon insurance for a month shouldn't hurt. It felt like some of the weight was lifted, but I was still waiting to find out if/how this would work admitting me as a self pay.
No comments:
Post a Comment