Insurance Canceled with No Warning

[downtowndavidf]

I know this will make me sound like a litigious lawyer chasing sour-grape eating poor poor pitful me sap, but I am willing to look bad because I am desperate and not well spoken enough to attract the help I need. Please forward this to anyone you think might be able to help.
I am not a brilliant writer but I find myself in an impossible situation, so I am going to whip out a pen and give this a whirl. The insurance board and many other sites require a condensed and concise version of my story and I am horribly long winded. I whittled it down, but hopefully not to the point of misunderstanding.
I could really use some good advice and know one I know gives better than you. So how about it, can you help me? Pretty Please?
 This is part of what I am going through these days. It should also be noted that my husband of 26 years lost his job last year one month after he disclosed his AIDS diagnosis, he has a lawsuit but the lawyer is very conservative and we are now shopping for someone else to take up his case. Until he gets back on his feet it is just little old me holding down the fort on my $9.37 per hour job in California. Don't get me wrong I don't want pity I am seeking fairness and justice and just a little help from one person to another.
In the meantime I have a very pressing matter which should be so easy to solve but this huge corporation moves so slowly that my health is in real danger.
Long story shorter:
In Sep 2013 my husband was dropped from my medical plan. They explained three months later stating that I had not originally qualified. Someone recalculated that my average hours worked was 31 instead of 32. They refunded my six or seven months of premiums and were expecting me to go back and pay a COBRA plan back dated the seven months he had coverage. I refused and I would repay Apr to Sep premiums and that would be deducted from my paycheck and my husband was supposed to use Cobra going forward. Target kept dragging their feet and didn't send the COBRA offer in time so missed the cut-off date for government to pay two months of COBRA as assistance. I begged them to FEDX but they wouldn’t hear of it.
So my husband has ADAP but no real medical coverage other than the local clinic which is a dreadful place silled with miserable people pushing paper from one desk to another.
 I continued to pay for my medical insurance policy because I was still covered. But my hours were drastically cut back for the eight weeks prior to the qualification period they allotted only 15 hours a week. But I still worked an average of 20.97 hours for the new open enrollment; I needed 21 to qualify for the upcoming plan that begins in APRIL.
And just last week out-of-the-blue I was dropped off from MY medical insurance. They claim to have sent a letter telling me if I didn't pay all my husband’s arrears money (for the seven months of coverage) then I would be dropped. (I never received this letter, but why couldn't they call me anyway?)

Remember they had promised just to take it from my check so how was I to know, or think to check? But RULES are RULES and they can never be broken at Target so I must go through a lengthy appeals process.

My situation is URGENT because I just recently began an Alzheimer’s medicine and I am experiencing multiple side effects not to mention having many questions for my doctor. I also have AIDS since 1996 and HepC, so as you might gather I am on numerous medications. Target had ample opportunity to collect the arrears money and Target admitted causing the error on both occasions but now they are just running out the clock.

Target controls how many hours they give out and because I had trouble they are punishing me. Many employees who are new to the store are receiving more hours than me; I have been there for almost two years. I know I should just look for another job, but this is a very daunting task with my memory issues. I am ready willing and able to work just as hard as I have to I just need a leg up here. I am very bright and capable with many years of work experience.

Thank You, David

Is Anyone There?

[Jeff G]

Hi David and welcome to the forums . Im sure the moderator of this particular forum will be able to answer some of the questions you have as well as some of the members here .

In the meantime I would find the nearest city with an ASO and see a social worker so that you and your husband can be hooked into some sort of safety net where your health care can be consistent and assured .

[Ann]

Hi David, welcome to the forums.

Unfortunately I don't live in the US so I'm not well-versed in American health insurance concerns.

One thing I may be able to point you in the right direction over .... " my husband of 26 years lost his job last year one month after he disclosed his AIDS diagnosis, he has a lawsuit but the lawyer is very conservative and we are now shopping for someone else to take up his case."

Have you tried getting in contact with the folks at Lambda Legal? They would be the first organisation I'd contact if I were in the States and had a similar problem. Here's a link to their website where you can find their contact details: http://www.lambdalegal.org/

My heart goes out to both of you and I hope you can get things sorted out to your satisfaction. Discrimination of this sort makes my blood boil.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Ann

[JR Gabbard]

Hi David,
Welcome to the forum.
You should gather up all of the documents you have concerning the matters you posted about, and take them to your local AIDS Services Organization.  They should be able to help you sort things out.  You'll also want to ask them about any benefits you might be able to hook into to help pay your health expenses.
Sorry I can't be more help.  These issues are driven by deadlines.  If you miss one, often you are just out of luck.  Without seeing your paperwork, I couldn't say anything else.

[mecch]

Target eh?  Sad and shameful behavior.   I hope you find a good lawyer.  Michelle Obama is a Target fan. Don't forget to drop her a nice, descriptive letter.  Affordable health care, should be a national priority.... 

Did your lawyer have any ideas how to bring media heat into the situation?  Sometimes that helps out, public shaming of corporate nickle and diming at the expense of human decency. 

I wish you all the best.