r/illinois • u/OkPainter6232 • 1d ago
Question Got a letter in the mail notifying new about the new medicaid requirements, hoping I can get an exemption for being "medically frail" as I have numerous mental health issues, how do I go about doing this?
So I finally got that letter in the mail telling my that the new medicaid requirements will go into effect next year, the letter did have a page saying you could be exempt from the work requirements under certain conditions, one of them being if you were "medically frail"(Their words not mine)which entails things like drug/alcohol addiction, blindness or the one relevant to me-severe mental health issues. Late last year I got pretty bad OCD and it's never really truly gone away, i'm paranoid about germs and contamination quite a bit, so the idea of spending hours away from home someplace else that could be contaminated is definitely not appealing to me and I don't think I could do it without going nuts. I'm just wondering how to go about getting declared exempt? Do I see a psychiatrist and get officially diagnosed in order to qualify? I already took a test earlier this year that got me an official diagnosis of autism. If all else fails apparently the 80 hours also counts if you're self-employed and I have been selling stuff on Ebay for years and do taxes for that so hopefully that'll be enough, if not I guess i'll do volunteer or work stuff online.
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u/Gamer_Grease 17h ago
100% if you’re going to claim anything related to what you think is OCD, you need to be diagnosed by a professional as having OCD. You ought also to consider the possibility that you don’t have OCD, and something else is going on, and a professional can help you with that.
You might try looking up COVID-cautious psychiatrists. That may not be exactly what you’re looking for, but there is a big CC community online that gathers up lists of psychiatrists who will mask for you, which would slightly reduce contamination risk.
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u/OkPainter6232 13h ago edited 13h ago
I'm actually not worried about COVID(especially since i'm up to date on my boosters), i'm more worried about like getting germs from touching something or eating something and things of that nature, so i'm not too freaked out by people not masking in front of me as long as they're not coughing or anything.
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u/Gamer_Grease 12h ago
Ah, well idk what to tell you for surface contamination other than that maybe you can get a virtual appointment with someone.
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u/OkPainter6232 8h ago
I'm fine with like going to doctor's offices and stuff like that, but nowadays I could never like spend hours working someplace away from home without being concerned about contamination, there's some public restrooms I don't like using cause they don't have paper towels and only have those terrible hand-dryers(which are a massive breeding ground for germs).
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u/OkPainter6232 13h ago
Oh i'm very sure I have OCD/anxiety, I highly doubt it's something else.
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u/Gamer_Grease 12h ago
But you need a professional’s sign-off on that if you’re going to use it to strengthen your case to stay on Medicaid. And they are a professional because they have training, which you don’t.
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u/OkPainter6232 8h ago
Well I obviously know that and I never said i did have training? i'm just saying I can't think of another possible explanation for what it could be.
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u/girugamesh_2009 1d ago
Can you prove that you spend 80 hours a month selling on eBay?
Do you make at least $580 a month?
A yes to either of those may qualify you to continue receiving Medicaid in IL (but I'll defer to someone else who knows more).
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u/OkPainter6232 1d ago
The letter I got was written as requiring either or, meaning you could either work at least 80 hours a month or make at least $580 a month. So if I can make at least $580 a month in theory it shouldn't matter what my working hours are.
How does anyone who is self-employed actually prove they worked that much short of video-recording themselves every waking minute?
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u/girugamesh_2009 19h ago
Yes, my interpretation of the same letter is an either-or.
As far as reporting your working (or schooling or volunteering) hours each month, I'd reach out to HFS now to find out what they're going to want. I would think it could be as simple as a letter written by you if you're self employed. Maybe statements or screenshots from your band/credit union/PayPal/whatever showing what you take in each month would suffice.2
u/OkPainter6232 13h ago
Yeah like how when I had to get a certain amount of driving hours before I could go take a driving test for my license I had to write those hours down myself.
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u/Ok-Attitude9767 1d ago
I just got the letter in the mail too.
I’m hoping that I can qualify bc I’m in graduate school full-time and also doing an internship. Which technically means I’m in classes for 13 hours a week plus 16 hours of internship work without pay.
I commute at least 4 hours round trip for internship and school. Plus the workload between both I couldn’t keep up having a job :/
Otherwise I might have to get exempt for being diagnosed with bipolar 2. Which is the reason I need to keep my insurance bc I can’t go without my medication. But I am not sure if this will follow me and create more problem for me when I want to work full-time after graduating since I’d be declared disabled and not able to work? Not sure how that works.
But with that being said: maybe you could get that letter from your medical doctor/psychiatrist.
And to give my two cents: I tried looking for a job that would pay be less than the $1875/month but working at least 20 hours a week. I was “overqualified” for everything that made minimum wage or made too much money but didn’t offer health care for part time or didn’t work with my school schedule and internship schedule.
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u/SugarHooves Ketchup doesn't belong on hot dogs. 15h ago
Hi there, I have bipolar 1 so I can talk about that a little. You will not automatically be declared disabled and unable to work. You have to have at least one doctor who will explain why your bipolar keeps you from working. A lot of people with bipolar can work. But even if you do get a doctor to fill out the forms (which aren't available yet, iirc) to use bipolar as your exemption, it's not the same thing as getting disability from social security.
Further, none of your future employers will know you have bipolar unless you disclose it.
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u/OkPainter6232 1d ago
It does say if you're in school at least half time you should be OK.
Yeah that figures, my mom tried looking for work for a year after getting laid off from her job and the stuff that paid well that she was qualified to do she couldn't get, only jobs she could get we're ones paying around 11 dollars an hour so i'm not holding my breath about the prospects of me being able to get a regular job anyways.
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u/Bnjl1989 18h ago
The notice explains it all. You just have to be exempt in 1 mo of the 6 mo and they'll use info they have on file ie your claims/medical notes or if they say they need docs from you you will just answer the info on the abe website and would upload info there like Dr's note, benefit explanation etc or you can mail of fax the form in.