Well I had my appointment with the benefits specialist at my clinic today, we were on hold with the DES for 2 hours before we got through to someone, only to find out we needed to call a different department. Well we got ahold of the other department called “Freedom to Work” They told me it could be 90 days to 6 months before they will approve my case.
In other words, I am losing my Medicaid due to making over the income requirement. But in the state of Arizona there is a lesser known program called Freedom to Work, which offers coverage for individuals with disabilities to be allowed to work a regular job and still keep Medicaid coverage. The rep on the phone said he will submit my disability form that my provider filled out to the Social Security Administration, and they are the ones who decide if I am considered “disabled”. It’s so frustrating that this process takes so long. My regular Medicaid ends June 30th but I won’t even know if I qualify for this program for another 3 to 6 months. Ugh I don’t want to go without insurance coverage.
I submitted the documents on May 22nd and they told me they just now are sending them to the SSA .
My friend had freedom to work Medicaid. I think she only got to keep Medicaid for 1 year on that program in Michigan. Have you considered getting healthcare through Obamacare? You pay premiums based on your income
$140 per month is pretty reasonable for health insurance. Try to figure out how to reorganize your budget to be able to pay for the health insurance, at least until you see whether you qualify for the Freedom to Work program.
I know it’s not too expensive for health insurance but if I get on my employers plan I’ll be stuck in it for a year, so even if I do get the other insurance I’ll still have to pay the premiums from my employer at least till next April
You might want to double check with.your employer about that. I could be wrong, but I think that typically you may only enroll in your employers health insurance once a year during the open enrollment period, but you may be able to discontinue the employer health insurance at any time during the year.