Gahhhh, big huge Medicaid vent
I just have to get this out so I can hopefully blow off enough steam to get to bed. For the last ten months we have been dealing with all kinds of issues with our Medicaid plan and counting down the days until the twins turned one, they would reevaluate our eligibility and we would be moved to CHIP since Monte now has a job. CHIP is so much better for us because we can see a pediatrician 15 minutes away and we have better access to specialists as well.
So, I sent in the renewal application for the twins last month. Rhett has been on CHIP since March. We paid his yearly fee and have been in heaven. It has been so, so nice. I marked on the application that I was not applying for him, just for the twins. Well, I get the paperwork back and not only did they renew the twins' Medicaid but they moved Rhett from CHIP to Medicaid. I wanted to cry. I called up and we were able to figure out that they miscalculated something. They told me that I could file and appeal but since it was so obviously their error they would just forward my call to the state office so they could fix the error that day. Three weeks later I had no resolution, had gone two weeks with zero contact, and had left three unreturned messages. Yeah, that day my arse. So I called my state senator's office and they checked into it for me. Like magic I received a call that very day and my application was reprocessed correctly. So I found a letter in the mailbox this evening saying everyone was denied Medicaid as of 9/1. Great, fine, that's what we anticipated, but there is nothing in there about CHIP. So it looks like they just canceled my kids' insurance as of the end of next month and did not start the other insurance up. Not cool. It took 2-3 months to have the CHIP application processed last time. We can't have them uninsured. The whole point of a renewal is that they check their eligibility for both so you do not have a break in coverage. They are just supposed to move you straight from one program to the other. Also, when I call the automated Medicaid system it says they removed the twins, but Rhett is still on Medicaid through December, even though my letter says they removed all the kids. We paid for him to be on CHIP through March! No one has offered us a refund of our premiums or anything. They just stole our money and apparently that is that.
Seriously, WTF? They do this every single day. This is their job to process these applications. So how do they make a mistake like this and then on top of that why do they have so much trouble fixing something that should just be so incredibly easy? Check income and resources, okay not eligible for Medicaid. Okay, but they are eligible for CHIP. Send out CHIP paperwork and insurance cards. I honestly am holding back tears right now. I do not understand who I pissed off to have them cause me so much stress when I already have so much on my plate to begin with.
Feel free to just ignore me. Just need to get my frustrations out. 
Our Blog
Re: Gahhhh, big huge Medicaid vent
I can't even imagine trying to deal w/ that.
I am so sorry.
We are in the middle of a different medical insurance nightmare right now, and were thinking about looking into CHIP. Now I'm a little leery.
I hope you are able to get everything sorted out quickly and easily.
What a bunch of asshats.
The O'Baby Blog
I am so sorry! That is so stressful! I would be in pieces right now!
***CHIP dust to the kids***
sheesh, what a pile of bollocks!
I'm so sorry. I hope it gets sorted out quickly!
Call your senator/rep again. They are there to help you and their calls will be returned much more quickly than yours will! Wrong but true.
Absolutely! Sad but true.
Married and it feels so good!