Health Care Woes Continue...

I've been going back and forth in my mind about posting about our quest for health coverage for the babies. Mostly because I feel a little bit like a failure about the whole thing. It's frustrating to me that I have a masters degree from an Ivy League school and yet I can't provide my children with health coverage because I don't have an extra $20,000 a year. Not to mention I'm now going on month two of this nonsense and in the meantime my babies are without a pediatrician and without coverage. It's an incredibly scary situation to be in.

I mentioned before that we applied for a state run program that's for children without coverage. The application process was fairly straight forward, the premiums and coverage seemed reasonable. Flash forward to a few weeks ago we received a letter saying we were denied this coverage because we "might" qualify for medicaid.

Ok fine whatever I guess. Then on Monday I received another series of letters in the mail from some caseworker who then wanted an insane amount of information. Originals of birth certificates for all four of us, plus another means of identification verification. (Fun with one year olds who don't have need for identification on a regular basis). Then the extra challenge was getting them originals plus I'm 99% sure that we don't qualify for medicaid.

Tuesday I call the office, was on hold for 12 years, and then finally spoke to one of the most unpleasant people in the universe. I first wanted to know the guidelines for qualifying for medicaid because frankly it's a complicated process and I don't want to waste my time. I was told that she was not authorized to give that information and only "representatives" know.

I then wanted to speak to a representative, that was a no go. According to this lady the guidelines are super top secret. I also asked about the need for original copies. We learned that we must locate a welfare office take our originals there have some one view them, copy them, and then stamp and sign them. Okay awesome...

So Wednesday my day off the babies and I set off for our very first visit to a welfare office. Holy, the place was so busy and disorganized with a line stretching to the door.

Finally, after about an hour we get to the window where I begin to pull my original documents from my file when the lady asks, "Did you make copies of those?" Seriously?! What the heck? I was specifically instructed to bring originals not copies.

So we get out of line locate a copy machine and make the required copies. Then we get back into the line and repeat the above. The lady looks at my originals and then stamps and signs the copies.

Great some progress. Except after she does that she sticks them somewhere and says okay bye.

Um... what? More confusion sets in as my paperwork says to get the stamped copies and submit them with the rest of my life story (pay-stubs, a form that must be filled out by my landlord, and a million other things).

So I simple request to have the stamped copies so I can submit all of my documents together. (Call me crazy but I'm not overly trusting that my documents will get to the appropriate person by the deadline, in this overly busy, understaffed welfare office).

So instead of leaving I instead ask for my copies so that I can file the entire thing together. This is when I learn that once you make a copy in the welfare office it becomes government property and I can't take it off the premise!! What kind of a rule is that? This office and random lady now has copies of my children's birth certificates, mine and Marcus' passports, my SS #, etc. etc. Again call me crazy but I'd rather be responsible for the sending and sharing of all of that information. Plus their brilliant solution was to fill out the rest of the paperwork while sitting in their office and they would then submit the whole thing. Um... yeah except that it requires things like a third party verification of who lives in our home, and how we pay our bills, plus pay-stubs and more private information (seriously).

So again I request the documents so I can handle this whole thing on my own. This prompts the need for a discussion with a supervisor, and eventually the best I get is a copy of my copies.

I'm still not really satisfied with this and frankly the whole situation just makes me angry and annoyed. Plus like I said I'm 99% sure we don't even qualify for medicaid so we're jumping through hoops, being treated like second class people, giving out a lot of personal information, for probably no reason.

Ph.D and university insurance is looking like a better answer every single day.