Done and done but not done yet
Mar. 20th, 2015 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisI did forget to report that the ice cream I ate last night may have fired the first shot through my lactose intolerance theory. No ill effects at all. Yeah, ice cream!!
And.. another victory. I think I may finally have gotten a divorce from Medicaid.
When I got laid off and then retired, I went on COBRA insurance. But that ended one month before my Medicare kicked in. In order to be covered for that month, I applied for the Washington state version of affordable health care which was Medicaid.
But, at the end of the month, when Medicare kicked in, I discovered that it's virtually impossible to turn off Medicaid. I tried and tried and tried. They swooped in and took over my Medicare bills and my medication out of pocket expenses. I logged into the application and inflated my income and that didn't help. I spent a fair amount of time on the phone. Nothing worked. And I gave up. I did check every 6 months or so to ensure my income on the website was too high for benefits. The problem is the system is based on income and while I have enough money to live on for years, it is mostly all in pre-tax investments. So when I get money out of the investments, it's tax free money.
In 2014, my income is $20,000 and my taxable income is $0. On paper I'm a pauper. In reality, I'm not anywhere close.
But, they kept paying. I felt incredibly guilty and was also afraid (and still am) that someone is going to figure it out and come to me for the accumulated payments plus interest.
Yesterday I got a letter in the mail saying my coverage would end at the end of this month. One can only hope.
And.. another victory. I think I may finally have gotten a divorce from Medicaid.
When I got laid off and then retired, I went on COBRA insurance. But that ended one month before my Medicare kicked in. In order to be covered for that month, I applied for the Washington state version of affordable health care which was Medicaid.
But, at the end of the month, when Medicare kicked in, I discovered that it's virtually impossible to turn off Medicaid. I tried and tried and tried. They swooped in and took over my Medicare bills and my medication out of pocket expenses. I logged into the application and inflated my income and that didn't help. I spent a fair amount of time on the phone. Nothing worked. And I gave up. I did check every 6 months or so to ensure my income on the website was too high for benefits. The problem is the system is based on income and while I have enough money to live on for years, it is mostly all in pre-tax investments. So when I get money out of the investments, it's tax free money.
In 2014, my income is $20,000 and my taxable income is $0. On paper I'm a pauper. In reality, I'm not anywhere close.
But, they kept paying. I felt incredibly guilty and was also afraid (and still am) that someone is going to figure it out and come to me for the accumulated payments plus interest.
Yesterday I got a letter in the mail saying my coverage would end at the end of this month. One can only hope.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-03-20 10:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-03-20 10:23 pm (UTC)