Frustrated with antiquated appeals process
I posted this earlier this month about filing an appeal with a contracting agency to retain COBRA after I switched to the agency's healthcare plan, because I didn't realize at the time that I could have kept COBRA, which is cheaper and has better, more comprehensive coverage, until it ran out later this year. To file the appeal, I only had the option to physically mail a letter of appeal to the appeals office in another state, then wait at least two weeks for them to reply to my mailed letter of appeal, presumably also by mail. This is ridiculous and frustrating. Why can't they allow appeals to be filed online or by email? It seems engineered specifically to delay the entire process.
If I win the appeal and get to retain COBRA, I need to find out before the end of the month, because if I skip a month, my COBRA is voided. But I still haven't heard about my appeal and it's the last week of the month. On top of that, I had to start using my new health insurance to get refills of prescriptions that I need for my autoimmune disorder, so I don't know how that works if my appeal is approved and I get to retain COBRA but have already started using my new health insurance for essential prescriptions (which are currently late). Will I essentially have to pay for both COBRA and my new health insurance this month, then go back to just COBRA next month?
On top of that, the new health insurance doesn't cover mental health services unless I pay over one hundred dollars for services in-network. On COBRA, I only had a $15 copay for therapy in-network.
I have a feeling they'll deny my appeal anyway, though the cancellation process on their website wasn't working and I couldn't cancel my new health insurance before the deadline, which is part of the reasoning behind my appeal. I'm sure I've made many mistakes in the whole process, but I hate that getting healthcare is so convoluted and drawn-out. I just needed to rant about my frustration here.
submitted by /u/Glittering_Walk7090
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