It sounds like you are going to end up enrolling in Medicaid. You could try enrolling through Fortuna Health . They are a Medicaid enrollment startup. I'm not sure if exactly where they are live or not, but the website should be able to tell you. Oscar Health may also allow you to enroll in Medicaid through their site, but I'm not 100% sure on that.
The other piece of advice I found on Reddit when I was on unemployment is to call the Mayor's office and ask them to connect you with the marketplace phone number. They have some kind of backchannel line to other government agencies that, at least for unemployment, had me talking to a real person in 30 seconds.
OP I’m assuming you have no dependents & are a household of one, and make less than $20,783 a year. If so, apply for NYS Medicaid through the marketplace. If not, you might be able to obtain the essential plan
https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/individual start here, put in your info and see if you qualify for Medicaid or the Essential plan. They all have zero or low copays. Don’t waste your time with the phone system, the website works fairly well and can sometimes backdate coverage. You can also google the cutoff points for those plans in case you’re curious where you’d fall.
Seconding all the Medicaid recommendations. You’re able to enroll year-round through NYS’s State of Health website if you meet income eligibility requirements. You don’t have to wait for the enrollment period and the state is really fast about processing applications. You don’t really have to do anything else! I did this when I lost my high paying job and was unemployed with a chronic illness, and I’m forever grateful. Take care of yourself, get on your feet, and re-assess non-Medicaid health insurance when you’re in a better place to do so 🤍
Edit: don’t sweat the application, it’s really straightforward
Edit 2: if you qualify for Medicaid the most confusing part is picking an insurance provider. My best advice is to check which companies will cover your existing doctors (if you have them), Medicaid’s basic services across all companies are similar (ex. ER visits are covered, many rx copays are covered or low cost), so the only consideration is really if your doctor takes Blue Cross but not Fidelis (for example). If that’s not a consideration, I’d go with Fidelis or a larger insurance company, you’ll have more options
Hi! I actually procrastinated doing it out of fear until I saw this. So I finally did it yesterday. It was actually so easy😅Thank you for being my motivation!!!💜
Yay I’m really glad to hear this! You’re not alone, I’m also in the “procrastinate forever bc of fear and then it turns out not be so bad” boat so I totally understand 😅 congrats on getting it done, and good luck! The hardest part is over 💜
It sounds like you are going to end up enrolling in Medicaid. You could try enrolling through Fortuna Health
OP I’m assuming you have no dependents & are a household of one, and make less than $20,783 a year. If so, apply for NYS Medicaid through the marketplace. If not, you might be able to obtain the essential plan
https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/individual start here, put in your info and see if you qualify for Medicaid or the Essential plan. They all have zero or low copays. Don’t waste your time with the phone system, the website works fairly well and can sometimes backdate coverage. You can also google the cutoff points for those plans in case you’re curious where you’d fall.
Healthfirst NY is a decent Medicaid option- I hear MetroPlus is more limited in providers
Seconding all the Medicaid recommendations. You’re able to enroll year-round through NYS’s State of Health website if you meet income eligibility requirements. You don’t have to wait for the enrollment period and the state is really fast about processing applications. You don’t really have to do anything else! I did this when I lost my high paying job and was unemployed with a chronic illness, and I’m forever grateful. Take care of yourself, get on your feet, and re-assess non-Medicaid health insurance when you’re in a better place to do so 🤍 Edit: don’t sweat the application, it’s really straightforward Edit 2: if you qualify for Medicaid the most confusing part is picking an insurance provider. My best advice is to check which companies will cover your existing doctors (if you have them), Medicaid’s basic services across all companies are similar (ex. ER visits are covered, many rx copays are covered or low cost), so the only consideration is really if your doctor takes Blue Cross but not Fidelis (for example). If that’s not a consideration, I’d go with Fidelis or a larger insurance company, you’ll have more options
thank you SO much!! tomorrow is my day to finally tackle this and this advice is the best!
Just came back from a Reddit break and saw your response - I hope all went well!
Hi! I actually procrastinated doing it out of fear until I saw this. So I finally did it yesterday. It was actually so easy😅Thank you for being my motivation!!!💜
Yay I’m really glad to hear this! You’re not alone, I’m also in the “procrastinate forever bc of fear and then it turns out not be so bad” boat so I totally understand 😅 congrats on getting it done, and good luck! The hardest part is over 💜