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stephc2010's Pregnancy
My Due Date: May 9, 2016I have given birth!
Age: 31 years old
Location: Maryland, United States
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Insurance troubles and feeling down :(
By stephc2010 » Posted Nov. 5, 2015 4:21am - 540 views - 7 comments
First off, Medicaid sucks. With my last pregnancy, I had pregnancy medicaid, and my daughter got it after she was born. Since then, my husband got promoted to full time and got benefits, so we have health insurance. But my daughter still qualified for medicaid, so that's what she has. I have medicaid as a secondary insurance this time to help cover whatever my primary insurance doesn't cover, which helps a lot since this baby was unplanned. Well, I've had to renew my daughter's insurance THREE times this year! Each time, I never got any notice that it was expiring. Luckily, her doctor's office lets you know if you're within a month of expiring. So I renewed it in May, then had to renew again in June because it only extended it until July for some stupid reason. Then I renewed it again in September when I applied for Medicaid as a secondary for myself. In August, her doctor had told me that she was showing up as inactive, but they were still able to bill the insurance (weird). So I called them that day to verify she still had coverage, since she had to get blood work done. They said she was covered, so I figured it was okay. Then, like I mentioned earlier, when I went to apply for mine, the lady said I may as well renew her's right away since it was expiring in October (huh?). So I went ahead and reapplied for her, she and I were both approved right away and I figured all was fine. I was told hers would just continue and I wouldn't receive a new card or anything for her. Well, I took her for a flu shot a few days ago and her office had trouble billing for it. They called her insurance, they told them she had been inactive since July. The receptionist said they saw her in August and billed them no problems. Weird, right? Well, they called the Medicaid office and they said she WAS covered under the same insurance that she has. So something is not right there. I called her insurance yesterday and they said she was inactive, I said I've renewed THREE times this year. She said I needed to contact the Medicaid office. I told them we did that already and they said she was covered by that insurance. She said, "let me check again". And suddenly, she was active! Ugh. Apparently because I did it over the phone, sometimes they don't receive all the information. I don't understand how that's possible... They also told me that I need to see the primary doctor listed on MY card for a physical, otherwise my insurance would be dropped. I told them that they're my secondary insurance and it's only for pregnancy. Apparently, they thought they were my primary insurance, even though I gave everyone all my information when applying and also when choosing my insurance company! She never gave me an answer as to if I need to see this primary doctor still or not. It's very frustrating! I'll be calling them today to get a definite answer... It's the same company as my daughter's insurance, as well.
Plus, I got a trip to New Mexico with Allison for 12 days next week. I love seeing my family, but something about being back home is very depressing... My parent's have a small house (3 bedrooms 1 bath). With my twin nephews they adopted living there, plus my younger sister who's still in high school, I end up sleeping in the living room. It's not that big of a deal, I don't mind sleeping on the couch. It's just a lack of privacy... Days are perfectly fine, but nights there are really hard for me and I have trouble sleeping and get very depressed and start missing my husband... I'm looking forward to seeing them, but I'm also dreading it, if that makes any sense... We have a 4 hour one way flight going, then two 2 hour flights with a layover on our way back. Any advice for keeping a 1 year old entertained during the long flight? We've flown before, but she normally would sleep. I'm not sure I'd get that lucky this time. :(
Sorry for the rant. Just got a lot on my mind!
My Journal
Insurance troubles and feeling down :(
By stephc2010 » Posted Nov. 5, 2015 4:21am - 540 views - 7 comments
First off, Medicaid sucks. With my last pregnancy, I had pregnancy medicaid, and my daughter got it after she was born. Since then, my husband got promoted to full time and got benefits, so we have health insurance. But my daughter still qualified for medicaid, so that's what she has. I have medicaid as a secondary insurance this time to help cover whatever my primary insurance doesn't cover, which helps a lot since this baby was unplanned. Well, I've had to renew my daughter's insurance THREE times this year! Each time, I never got any notice that it was expiring. Luckily, her doctor's office lets you know if you're within a month of expiring. So I renewed it in May, then had to renew again in June because it only extended it until July for some stupid reason. Then I renewed it again in September when I applied for Medicaid as a secondary for myself. In August, her doctor had told me that she was showing up as inactive, but they were still able to bill the insurance (weird). So I called them that day to verify she still had coverage, since she had to get blood work done. They said she was covered, so I figured it was okay. Then, like I mentioned earlier, when I went to apply for mine, the lady said I may as well renew her's right away since it was expiring in October (huh?). So I went ahead and reapplied for her, she and I were both approved right away and I figured all was fine. I was told hers would just continue and I wouldn't receive a new card or anything for her. Well, I took her for a flu shot a few days ago and her office had trouble billing for it. They called her insurance, they told them she had been inactive since July. The receptionist said they saw her in August and billed them no problems. Weird, right? Well, they called the Medicaid office and they said she WAS covered under the same insurance that she has. So something is not right there. I called her insurance yesterday and they said she was inactive, I said I've renewed THREE times this year. She said I needed to contact the Medicaid office. I told them we did that already and they said she was covered by that insurance. She said, "let me check again". And suddenly, she was active! Ugh. Apparently because I did it over the phone, sometimes they don't receive all the information. I don't understand how that's possible... They also told me that I need to see the primary doctor listed on MY card for a physical, otherwise my insurance would be dropped. I told them that they're my secondary insurance and it's only for pregnancy. Apparently, they thought they were my primary insurance, even though I gave everyone all my information when applying and also when choosing my insurance company! She never gave me an answer as to if I need to see this primary doctor still or not. It's very frustrating! I'll be calling them today to get a definite answer... It's the same company as my daughter's insurance, as well.
Plus, I got a trip to New Mexico with Allison for 12 days next week. I love seeing my family, but something about being back home is very depressing... My parent's have a small house (3 bedrooms 1 bath). With my twin nephews they adopted living there, plus my younger sister who's still in high school, I end up sleeping in the living room. It's not that big of a deal, I don't mind sleeping on the couch. It's just a lack of privacy... Days are perfectly fine, but nights there are really hard for me and I have trouble sleeping and get very depressed and start missing my husband... I'm looking forward to seeing them, but I'm also dreading it, if that makes any sense... We have a 4 hour one way flight going, then two 2 hour flights with a layover on our way back. Any advice for keeping a 1 year old entertained during the long flight? We've flown before, but she normally would sleep. I'm not sure I'd get that lucky this time. :(
Sorry for the rant. Just got a lot on my mind!
Comments for this Journal Entry
 | Comment from josamarie » Posted Nov. 9, 2015 9:04am Definitely look in to primary/secondary rules. Things have changed in the last few years, but I know my parents always had a hell of a time with their insurance because my mom's went by a birthday rule (whoever had the earlier birthday was primary, so her May birthday trumped his Oct birthday), while my dad's insurance dukes that the man's should be primary (archaic I know), they battled so much with the insurance after every major event, but it always got sorted out in the end! Good luck! |
 | Comment from stephc2010 » Posted Nov. 6, 2015 3:30am Ericalee, I didn't even think about that! That's actually a valid point. I'll have to double check. Although I was told that since I am covered through my husband's insurance, they will be billed first, then Medicaid covers what they don't (like copays, etc). My midwife's office accepts both my medicaid MCO and also my primary insurance and I gave them both cards and they verified coverage from both places. When I applied for Medicaid, I gave them all the information about my husband's insurance that I have. I also gave them all the information again when I was choosing my Medicaid MCO, so I'm not sure why they are confused about that. My daughter, on the other hand, is strictly covered by medicaid. So them giving me a hard time with her insurance is what upsets me most :( |
| Comment from ericalee » Posted Nov. 5, 2015 10:06pm I think the reason for the primary vs secondary mixup is because if you are the policyholder, like medicaid is, that HAS to be your primary. Since your spouse is the policyholder on his insurance through work that has to be your secondary. Unfortunately, you don't get to choose. I have a feeling your claims may come back because of this until you have the correct primary listed per insurance rules and regs. Not trying to be a negative nancy... I just went through so much crap between my work insurance and my husband's with primary vs secondary. I hope yours gets sorted out! Insurance can be such a pain! ! |
| Comment from stephc2010 » Posted Nov. 5, 2015 1:12pm My office bills everything together, too! Last pregnancy, I didn't pay anything. This time, they mailed me a letter saying they verified my coverage with both insurances and that I won't owe anything. Last time, I never got a letter like that before. Either way, I am grateful that Medicaid helps us. I just wish I didn't have to jump through hoops with them sometimes! Especially when it comes to my daughter's insurance. |
 | Comment from pbc910 » Posted Nov. 5, 2015 12:46pm The worst too is providers that don't have experience with certain types of insurance. So many people use Medicaid and similar insurance that there is no excuse why people keep screwing crap up! I haven't had any issues with my insurance so far but I keep expecting the other shoe to drop and then send me a crazy bill after babies come (since they bill everything together like that). |
| Comment from stephc2010 » Posted Nov. 5, 2015 12:06pm I was telling my husband that I would much rather pay for her insurance and not have to worry about it constantly! It's so stressful. I had no problems with it during my first pregnancy. But since then, it's been nothing but problems. And it's so embarrassing at the Doctor's office! |
 | Comment from Kitten90 » Posted Nov. 5, 2015 11:02am I had similar issues with them last year! Ugh! Next year all of us are just going to be put on my fiancé's insurance and Medicaid can fuck off lol. I'd rather have to pay for a bunch of shit out if pocket then deal with them anymore |
