Thyroid Cancer, Part 1: The Health Insurance Battle

 Last month I got to experience my first hospital stay since Peter was born 16 years ago. Here is what led up to it.

On Tuesday, June 8th, my cardiologist, Dr. Haffey, informed me that I had thyroid cancer. (See this post, for more info.) He assured me that it was very common and completely curable, but I would need to have surgery to remove the nodules that had been discovered on my thyroid. He would give me a referral for a doctor who specialized in that kind of surgery. The following day I received a call from the office of another doctor, telling me that I had been referred to them by Dr. Haffey, and I made an appointment with him for the following Monday.

On Thursday June 10th, Steven lost his job and we discovered that our insurance coverage would end at the end of June.

On Monday, June 14th, I met with Dr. Peller. He hadn't seen the test results from the ultrasounds I'd had of my thyroid, but he explained what to expect: I would have surgery to remove part or all of my thyroid, depending on how much the cancer had spread. Following the surgery I would likely receive iodine radiation to get rid of any remaining thyroid cells that could be affected. I would also have to take a thyroid hormone replacement for the rest of my life. I asked if we could complete the surgery that month before my health insurance ended, and they said it was likely, but it would depend on approval from the health insurance. When they received that approval, they would contact me to schedule the surgery.

So I went home and waited for the call... which didn't come. As the end of June approached I called the Dr.'s office, but they still had heard nothing from the insurance company and sometimes these things took up to thirty days. June ended, and the surgery still had not been approved. 

Meanwhile, I had been looking into health insurance coverage. I hadn't really considered COBRA (which would allow us to keep the same coverage we'd had before) because from past experience I knew it would cost around $2000/month, and paying that on top of hospital bills was not an appealing option for someone facing unemployment for who knows how long. Because Steven qualified for unemployment benefits, we could get health insurance through the "Marketplace" at a huge discount, but the least expensive options were not accepted by my doctors.  Then I learned that through the ACA, because of the pandemic and all, the government would pay for COBRA through the end of September! We could continue with the same coverage for three more months and keep the same deductible (which we had already met) and out-of-pocket maximums. This was a huge relief! So when the paperwork for COBRA finally arrived in the mail in July, I filled it out and mailed it back the very next day. And then I waited for confirmation that our health insurance had been reinstated. 

Two weeks later, on Thursday, July 15th, when I hadn't heard anything, I called COBRA customer service. The kind lady who took the call told me that because I had chosen the government subsidy to pay for it, the process was delayed because they had to make sure we were eligible for the subsidy, etc. I explained that I had cancer and was waiting for approval to have surgery and asked if there was any way the process could be expedited. (I'm afraid I got a bit emotional... I was kind of stressed out about the whole thing at the time.) She couldn't promise anything, but she said she'd see what she could do and I would receive an email when it was approved. I received that email the very next day!

On the following Monday, I called back Dr Peller's office to let them know that the insurance was reinstated and to see if we could get the surgery approved. It took a few days and more phone calls to the health insurance company and the doctor's office, but we finally got the surgery scheduled for that Friday, July 23rd. It was a huge relief to me to have the surgery scheduled at last- I could finally get the thyroid cancer taken care of!

*****to be continued*****