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I have a month or so until the termination of my 18 months of Cobra coverage. I've was terminated while on disability from a job injury caused by long term / chronic overuse/disuse of my arms neck and spine and a 5 year old acute injury causing chronic lower back pain.
With the lower back pain, my sitting posture deteriorated and with high work hours/week and high stress / muscle spasms, I now have chronic disk deterioration in the neck as well.
When I first reported severe pain in arms, it was thought it was "standard" carpal tunnel originating in wrists -- but from beginning, the injury reports were only glossed over for keywords.
After standard carpal tunnel therapy didn't work, the work comp companies have refused further treatment saying it's in my head, but due to my cobra coverage, I was getting pain treatment through that and a pain specialist had me MRI'd. He found disk protruding into spine which matched up with earlier ignored _nerve__conduction_ study tests showing pain and numbness in hands and arms was caused more by damage at root of nerve, not in carpal tunnel.
My monthly pain meds alone are nearly double my cobra payment and I cannot do any sustained task or work. I haven't worked since I was laid off and am disabled by any unbiased evaluation. I can't even take care of my house but the work-comp insurance companies (multiple overlapping coverage for a 'cumulative injury'), won't even pay for doctors now let alone medications.
I'm told I can get cobra extended to 36 months if I qualify for medicare -- and I may have to go on Social Security Disability soon if I can't get the insurance companies to pay Temporary Disabilility and get me proper medical treatment.
My condition isn't "stable" so I'm technically not permanent at my current condition, so the cases are still open.
Since it isn't known if I am permanently disabled or not (I can't get to a proper doctor to treat my injury), I don't know I can get SSDI.
But aside from that -- a clause in my cobra insurance says that I'm covered until I qualify for medicare (or medicaid, not entirely sure of the difference). But the law, as I understands it says I can't qualify for cobra extension unless I qualify for medicare or medicaid.
So is this "legal". It seems like they've written the policy to disqualify me from coverage if I legally qualify for an extension of cobra. Isn't that a type of catch-22?
I need legal help, but I'm not allowed to pay a lawyer more than about 12% of whatever I might recover from the insurance companies for any permanent injuries.
The maximum recovery is $490/week for life if I am declared 100% disabled (unlikely). Even at 99.5% disabled, I'd only get 5 years and about $370 I think...with Social security and state disability being mutually cancelling so I'm limited to which ever is higher but no cumulative benefits. California's benefit system
"tops out" at about 25% of what I was making, so the best I can do is to get about 1/4th of what I used to take home (and that was with health insurance).
So how can I get my cobra insurance increased. I'm on 24hr pain meds, anti-inflammatories, anti-anxiety and anti-depressants.
Any help ??
No lawyers will take my case even though, medically, it's pretty obvious that I'm very damaged - shows up on MRI, X-ray and nerve conduction tests -- can't get too more "objective" than that...and the subjectives are very variable depending on what position I've slept in or sat in the previous X hours or days...numbness, clumsiness, typing and computer work down to about 10% previous speed if I can use it at all. Even typing this causes pain in
right elbow, but hand-writing is worse -- no
hand strength, so can't write very long before hand cramps.
Of course everything in legal system has to be done in writing....a bit hard when you can't write or type and are legally forbidden to hire someone to assist you or can't afford it.
I hope this message is "ok"....and I've removed
enough personally identifying info...