So this is a little complicated, bear with me. Before I transitioned fully, i.e. November of 2013, I signed up for Medicaid health insurance through the NYS Health Exchange. I was supposed to have Medicaid effective January 1, 2014. It ended up taking a long, long time to get the insurance, though, because I had to prove I had no income. I had left my job in July 2013, so my income was 1/2 of what it had been the previous year, 2012. The Exchange kept generating letters saying my stated income didn't match federal records (duh! I lost my job, people of course it doesn't match). At any rate, we went in circles for a long time before i finally got approved, and I was supposed to have Medicaid for 1 year - even if I became re-employed - before the income issue would be revisited and I would have to provide proof of income.
When I changed my name legally in June, I notified the exchange. They said my application had to be re-opened to change my name, and therefore began demanding I prove my (lack of) income all over again. My navigator finally got someone who said I didn't have to, that I only had to submit the name change, because nobody has to prove income twice in one year. BUT I never got my insurance card with my new name on it.
NOW They are again demanding I prove my income, and demanding additional documents they never asked for before. The irony is, if I just keep quiet and keep my insurance under my male name, I will NOT have to provide any of these documents and my insurance will continue as before.
Is this discrimination?? My head is spinning.