#I'm at the end of my rope in general and with bcbs specifically

[nochiquinn]

I'm gonna put the tl;dr at the beginning and if anybody wants context/details they'll be under the readmore.

tl;dr: we have to pay BCBS $900 to keep Sam and her 11 y/o daughter's insurance active. we can do it, but only if we ignore every other bill, and so are currently trying to raise $500 to offset this impact. linktree has various ways to help, including a gfm and grocery gift cards.

(if this parses weirdly it's bc it was originally drafted for bsky, be nice to me, writing these multiple times is A Lot)

the context: long-time readers will know, Sam has leukemia and has been in treatment since November. she's been on medical leave from work and we've been paying her insurance out of pocket, $600/mo. this is where the problem splits into two different threads, both equally stupid.

thread 1: the mail service in georgia in screwed on a fundamental level (source). BCBS only accepts OOP payments by mail. you see where this is going.

we sent a money order through the mail, as we've done numerous times. it got hung up at the post office. BCBS never informed us there was an issue, and instead canceled the coverage for failure to pay. we found out about this two days before Sam was scheduled to start her last round of chemo. $600 to reinstate. we got it sorted, but it involved borrowing money.

because of this, and further lack of communication from BCBS, we are technically behind by a month, and it accrues interest. this is the $900. this is less urgent than getting her coverage back before the chemo started, but it's still not great. we can do it, splitting it between two of her husband's paychecks, but that runs the risk of additional interest and as previously stated is only possible if we let other bills slide. this is the attempt to raise $500.

thread 2: her job stopped approving her medical leave, so BCBS dropped her coverage Again. we were not notified of this Again. she is currently In The Hospital for treatment and monitoring. again, we got it sorted, but at this point it's starting to feel like extortion. (I mean all health insurance is extortion but ykwim) The hospital is helping Sam apply for Medicare (or Medicaid, I can never keep them straight) so HOPEFULLY this is our last month dealing with this, but I'm not putting my eggs in that basket until it's a sure thing.

related: kiddo needs an insulin refill. kiddo needs cgm sensors. kiddo needs glasses, which is a whole other snafu that could have been avoided if bcbs made any sense whatsoever. this is the second reason keeping the insurance active is so important. (in the event of medicaid/care David will get insurance through his job and put her on it.)

David is trying so, so hard to keep us above water, but he's Just One Guy, and a multiply disabled one at that. everybody in this house is multiply disabled at this point. we've only been able to get this far thanks to our irl and online support networks. and if you've donated any amount at any point, you're part of that support network. it is truly impossible to articulate how grateful we are, but I keep trying. thank you for helping, and for sharing, and for continuing to help. 💜🧡