The Daily Peeve / Rant

[rosarugosa]

My sister is retiring next week at age 62, and she has purchased a policy through Aetna. I don't know all the details, but I think it was reasonably affordable.

[Tradd]

You never know when life can turn on a dime - my spouse, out of the blue with no warning, was let go (ie. fired) from his job on Friday six months before his full retirement age. It was a very difficult, technical job which required extreme attention to detail (Application Support Analysist) and even he said as he's gotten older that it's been harder for him to multi-task all the different technical things he had to do during the day. But no one (his boss, his bosses boss) pulled him aside to say anything specific about his performance. It came as such a shock to us and one could twist themselves into a pretzel and drive oneself crazy about the reasons.

So what to do now? We are going to have to buy at least one month of COBRA health insurance. I have an appointment on Monday to talk to someone about getting signed up for Medicaid (BeWell New Mexico) and K. can apply for full Medicare (he is already signed up for Part A). I can't help but be extremely worried about the stoopid Big, Beautiful Bill and even getting on Medicaid; thank GOD I live in a very blue, but very poor state (we do get a lot of oil & tax revenues, so I now the state budget has a surplus for now). I am 15 months from being able to sign up for Medicare.

I made him sit down with me to go over our bare minimum monthly expenses and even I was a little shocked to see it all add up. His salary was so good (six figures) for the past 2.5 years that I lost a little bit of my frugal bone and he never had one. I think we will be all right due to our savings and the fact that I was approved for SSDI. I won't get that much but when I add in my little monthly IRA distribution and the job I manage to work at one day a week it is more than a little chunk of money. He already has a job interview tomorrow and has put out his resume to several recruiters anyway because he was so stressed in that job. I know the job market is getting bad though and who is going to hire a 66 year old when there are all these kids with computer science degrees looking for jobs...

He will be filing for unemployment today so there's that. And he is committed to severely pulling back our spending to just the bare essentials. Now I am really glad we stocked up on a lot of food and other essentials at the start of the trade war two months ago. I guess the thing that worries me the most is the health insurance stuff. I still have ongoing issues with my shoulder and arm. On the day he got fired I was getting an EMG and ultrasound of the brachial plexus. I don't know yet how serious this is but she found a lot of fluid in that area, which shouldn't be there a year after surgery. So more doctor visits for a followup locally and there is a possibility that I have to go back to St. Louis at some point too, but I'll cross that bridge when/if it comes to that.

Ughhhhhh, just ugggghhhh.

Depending on what happens with Medicaid, also talk with an independent insurance agent about a policy for you. When I was laid off during covid, I got a catastrophic plan for 6 months because COBRA was too expensive. Independent agents are a good resource and a place to start.

[SiouzQ.]

The lady I made the appointment with called me to confirm for tomorrow and it turns out the BeWell New Mexico is the ACA exchange for the state and Medicaid is separate from that. She is going to go over the plans with me tomorrow and I can also go to the Human Services Dept of New Mexico to see if I qualify for Medicaid.

K. was a contractor and our insurance was not covered by the company he worked for; rather he got the insurance through the contract company. He had to pay the total of the monthly premiums out of his paycheck each time. We'll find out a lot more on Monday. At any rate since tomorrow is the 30th whatever happens I probably won't get new coverage until August 1st.

I'm mad that I had just hit the out-of-pocket max for the year in mid-May when everything then got covered 100% and I had paid off all my old medical bills that had piled up. I don't want to start all over with that in the middle part of the year!

[Tybee]

The lady I made the appointment with called me to confirm for tomorrow and it turns out the BeWell New Mexico is the ACA exchange for the state and Medicaid is separate from that. She is going to go over the plans with me tomorrow and I can also go to the Human Services Dept of New Mexico to see if I qualify for Medicaid.

K. was a contractor and our insurance was not covered by the company he worked for; rather he got the insurance through the contract company. He had to pay the total of the monthly premiums out of his paycheck each time. We'll find out a lot more on Monday. At any rate since tomorrow is the 30th whatever happens I probably won't get new coverage until August 1st.

I'm mad that I had just hit the out-of-pocket max for the year in mid-May when everything then got covered 100% and I had paid off all my old medical bills that had piled up. I don't want to start all over with that in the middle part of the year!

So sorry to hear about his job. But he can go and get on full Medicare, part B, and that is only 185 a month, if he does not yet collect SS. If he collects SS they take it out of there. And I thought since you won your disability case that you should be eligible for Medicaid?

[happystuff]

Okay, so this is just a little "back of my mind" thought. You said they didn't tell him why they were letting him go? I'm wondering if he might have some legal recourse, especially seeing as how they are letting him go so close to his retirement. Are there things they will avoid paying by letting him go versus him reaching retirement? It just sounds a bit fishy to me.

Regardless, good luck to you both!

[Tybee]

Okay, so this is just a little "back of my mind" thought. You said they didn't tell him why they were letting him go? I'm wondering if he might have some legal recourse, especially seeing as how they are letting him go so close to his retirement. Are there things they will avoid paying by letting him go versus him reaching retirement? It just sounds a bit fishy to me.

Regardless, good luck to you both!

Yes, I wondered the same thing--if there is a pension he is being cut out of. This is common and it would be good to talk to an attorney if this might be the case.

Second,here is an article about disability and health insurance:
Do You Get Medicare or Medicaid if You're Disabled?

[iris lilies]

Yes, I wondered the same thing--if there is a pension he is being cut out of. This is common and it would be good to talk to an attorney if this might be the case.

Second,here is an article about disability and health insurance:
Do You Get Medicare or Medicaid if You're Disabled?

He’s a contract worker. I doubt there is a pension.

[Tybee]

He’s a contract worker. I doubt there is a pension.

Siouz, when you said full retirement age, I misread it and thought there was a pension. Sorry to get that wrong. Were you meaning FRA for SS? If so, will he take SS at FRA, and would it pay for you to collect spousal benefit at that time?

[early morning]

SouizQ, I am so sorry. Hoping you get some good news today re: health care coverage!

[happystuff]

Me as well - contract part didn't click in my head. Again, hope things work out for you both.