Loosing my job

[Raindog]

The company I work for is going out of business. We are in liquidation now and it is not looking good for another company to buy our store thanks to our jerkish landlord. It really sucks because our store is consistently in the top 10 of the entire company and had some good companies interested in buying.

I have never been unemployed before. The thing I am most worried about is my health insurance. I am getting allergy shots and I won't be able to afford them without health insurance. I am afraid COBRA will be too expensive. I really know nothing about this. I am living with my parents as I was broke after the divorce, so luckily I don't have to worry about rent. I am going back to school, I just started in August. I am studying sign language to be an interpreter. I would love to work part time and supplement with whatever unemployment and schooling grants I can get so I can really focus on school, but I still have the insurance issue. I just have no idea how this works and what I can do for my shots. Can anyone help?

 

[Snickers]

I would ask HR regarding COBRA they should know all the answers. Sorry for what you are going through. Good luck.

 

[addictedtochins]

You should get un-employment benefits, go into your local office and they should be able to tell you if you qualify and how much you will get. I go to a sliding fee scale clinic, find out where one is in your area. Oh, I get my meds though a prescription assistance program. I get about $200 worth of meds a month for about $30 a month

 

[momenteller]

Do they offer student insurance through school?

 

[TeaEarlGreyHot]

I used to work for allergists when I lived in NC. If you are going to an accredited university they require you to have insurance, but you might have to wait until the start of spring semester to sign up for it now. You'd have to check with them. My husband just finished grad school and it cost us $300 a semester for the plan the state universities had. But the coverage for your allergy shots might not be great.

In our clinic one shot was $29, 2 was $32, 3 was $38... So find out at your clinic how much it is without insurance. The expensive part would be your serum (probably close to $1000 a vial). Ask them how much serum you have left and tell them your situation. The allergist should make a plan for you if the cost gets out if hand. Also ask what CPT codes (procedure codes) they use so you can run it by any potential insurance plans and insurance can tell you what your out of pocket expense would be. There should be a code for the actual shot being administered and one for serum vial when that needs to be made. How long have you been on shots? Hopefully you aren't at the beginning and going twice a week, that's when serum gets used up the fastest.

Sorry for typos, I'm on my phone!

 

[tunes]

Trust me, you will not want COBRA. It completely sucks. I paid $125.00 a month for insurance at my previous job, and when I lost it, COBRA graciously offered to continue it for me for a mere $775.00 a month. Yeah, right.

I would get the insurance through the university. That's what my daughter did because I could no longer afford to keep her on my insurance and my ex-moron refused to put her on his. $300.00 a semester is waaaaay cheaper than what you would pay for a monthly premium for independent insurance.

 

[Spoof]

Definitely get a jump on the unemployment stuff now. There is no physical office in Louisiana, I had to find it on-line and it was like submitting stuff into a black hole. Four months later I randomly got a letter from them and a debit card that doesn't work on gas stations or anything that puts a hold on funds. So make sure that after you submit your stuff you also find the area to submit your bank account info so it gets direct deposited.

Of course the best thing to do would be to pick up a new job. Most accredited universities offer hardship jobs, definitely hit up the work counselor - ours had over 700 part time jobs on campus and almost nobody applied for them. Students get preference and in some positions they can only hire students.

Good luck!