Breakups & Divorce Support Group
Just broke up with someone or in the midst of a difficult divorce? Breaking up is difficult no matter what the circumstances are. They say that time heals all wounds, but sometimes a listening ear or a hug can work wonders for the heart. Whether you need a place to vent, someone to hold you to No Contact, or need advice about what to do, we're here to help.
This SUCKS! So, I divorced a military member after 25 years and under military rules, my ex and I both understood that I would have a year of medical benefits under the federal law that is called the 20/20/15 rule (married 20 years, he served 20 years, and 15 years of overlap). Well, I called in some prescriptions, and then realized my dependent ID card was expiring, so my ex went with me to the local ID office to get it renewed for the one year period and they took it away and marked me as ineligible in the systems!! Even though ALL of his records and MY records (marriage certificate and everything) are logged in their system, I have to go through major red tape and get all the bureaucratic boxes checked back east. It takes 6 weeks and they will not give me anything. I find myself suddenly uninsured and unable to pick up my prescriptions.
I qualify for insurance through work, but it won't be effective until the 1st of January because of how premiums are paid, and even if I try to go through the new national system, it's not immediate. I have absolutely NO WAY to get a new prescription except to see a doctor at full price for a new prescription and then pay huge prices for my meds. One of the meds is for my depression, which many here can relate to, and that medicine has horrible withdrawal effects. I am starting to experience them... it's AWFUL! (the medicine is Effexor) Tomorrow I'm going to call around and find out how much it will cost me to get an appointment with a doctor so I can at least get a temporary prescription, but I have had insurance my whole life and don't know what to expect, not to mention I will have to dip into my holiday shopping budget.
It just SUCKS that they can just suddenly leave me uninsured. Yesterday, I fell down a flight of stairs - I just can't make this stuff up - thank God I'm only bruised, but seriously, what if I'd broken something? I couldn't pay those bills! Isn't it illegal to be uninsured in this country now?
Ugh. I just don't even know how to handle this. I left my ex in April and have been doing REALLY REALLY WELL until this happened. Now, due to circumstances AND the withdrawls I have been crying non-stop. I just don't know what to do except pray that the withdrawals don't last long or get too bad, and pray that I can find an affordable doctor.
Anyone else go through anything like this? What did you do?
I qualify for insurance through work, but it won't be effective until the 1st of January because of how premiums are paid, and even if I try to go through the new national system, it's not immediate. I have absolutely NO WAY to get a new prescription except to see a doctor at full price for a new prescription and then pay huge prices for my meds. One of the meds is for my depression, which many here can relate to, and that medicine has horrible withdrawal effects. I am starting to experience them... it's AWFUL! (the medicine is Effexor) Tomorrow I'm going to call around and find out how much it will cost me to get an appointment with a doctor so I can at least get a temporary prescription, but I have had insurance my whole life and don't know what to expect, not to mention I will have to dip into my holiday shopping budget.
It just SUCKS that they can just suddenly leave me uninsured. Yesterday, I fell down a flight of stairs - I just can't make this stuff up - thank God I'm only bruised, but seriously, what if I'd broken something? I couldn't pay those bills! Isn't it illegal to be uninsured in this country now?
Ugh. I just don't even know how to handle this. I left my ex in April and have been doing REALLY REALLY WELL until this happened. Now, due to circumstances AND the withdrawls I have been crying non-stop. I just don't know what to do except pray that the withdrawals don't last long or get too bad, and pray that I can find an affordable doctor.
Anyone else go through anything like this? What did you do?
. Post on here tomorrow or the next day what happens. I'll help you however I can.
HR at my job said that in order to be insured immediately, it requires up front payment of the previous month's premium along with the current month. This would have been astronomical and depleted my holiday budget and more. The HR rep said that it would just be cheaper to pay out of pocket to see a doctor and get a new prescription. But, they did start the paperwork to guarantee that I will be insured beginning January 1st, which is better than nothing.
Meanwhile, I was still unable to get the meds I had awaiting me at the Naval Hospital (because I no longer have access or eligibility. So, after calling many different offices and numbers, I finally found one nice person in the pharmacy who put her hands on my prescription, read the side effects of sudden stoppage, and was willing to transfer the prescription to a private pharmacy. She probably didn't have to, maybe wasn't supposed to, but I am oh, so grateful for her. The medicine is effexor and I was in the beginning stages of withdrawal (upset equilibrium, dizziness, nausea, head pain) and knew it was only going to get worse. I was able to pick it up yesterday, and I'm already feeling better. I have a cold right now, but nothing that can't be handled through over-the-counter medications.
Now I just have to make it without incident until January 1st when I will be fully covered again. Once the military figures all the paperwork out I will have dual coverage for about 7 months.
There should be a law that says when one insurance drops you they must offer you some type of coverage until you are reinsured. I would have paid for temporary coverage. I just don't understand how it works, I guess. When I told my employer I was divorced, they offered my husband COBRA coverage for dental and vision insurance (the two I carried; he carried the medical). So, why couldn't Tricare have offered me the same? I just don't get how with new healthcare laws they can just leave someone uninsured completely.
Well, I'm over it for now. Medicated, and moving on - until the next speed bump in my divorce recovery. 25 years of marriage, there are bound to be some other issues I haven't thought of as we tease apart those bonds.
God help us all