Making Progress
Isn’t it amazing how much progress you can make when given the right information? I finally got the information on COBRA from my former employer, a month to the day after they laid me off. Plus it was 18 pages of small print! My company insurance ended 11/30 so I’ve been uninsured since then. That can get expensive fast as I just had to pay full price for 2 prescriptions. They came to almost $350.00.
Medicare
I have Medicare Part A. I’ve had that since I turned 65 but I never added anything else since I had insurance through my employer. I got laid off in the middle of “Open Enrollment” so there were a lot of resources out there. Each one gave you different advice/information. I did learn that I had to add Part B before I could get in an Advantage Plan. Thus began a frustrating quest to get signed up for Part B.
The advice was to sign up online. One advisor even walked me through the links to get to the application. No luck. They system said my information on file was different from what I entered. That was the last straw. I took myself down to our local Social Security office and got in line.
Social Security
The wait turned into 2 hours for about 10 minutes with the social security representative. My meeting was quick because she just told me I couldn’t sign up online and handed me a form that my (former) employer had to complete stating they had been providing insurance and the effective dates. So It’s back to Redfin again. Until I get that Part B coverage . No Advantage yet.
The Form
I must give credit where credit is due. Redfin set up a “Transitional Assistance Team” and provided an email, I sent the form to that email and got an immediate response. They sent to the Benefits Team. I expected that to take a few days but no, they got the completed form to me the same day! I printed it out sent it off to Social Security immediately. Fingers crossed they are quick.
COBRA
It all depends on how quick Social Security moves but if they get me my new card, I can select just dental coverage through COBRA and keep that a couple of months while we finish up my implants. By being able to select the coverage I want it becomes much more affordable.
Life Insurance
I never considered Life Insurance as I had plenty through my work. Now I had none and being old and diabetic made me high risk. You’d think I was going to die tomorrow! After collecting my denial letters I lowered my expectations and picked up a small policy to cover burial/ cremation expenses. No memorial service, no urn. My poor family will get handed a baggie of cinders.
Still to Do
The insurance was the BIG item on my list but the only other thing I can think of is to close out my 401K. There’s not much in there as I’d shifted my attention to buying stock. My investment (Stock) account, which was my retirement, has to sit until the stock market recovers. I kept investing even as the stock price fell because you buy low and sell high. Right? I’m optimistic about the future of that account once this recession is past.