I got approved for Medicaid because I’m pregnant, but husband got denied but he has undiagnosed sleep apnea, baby will be here soon, what do we do?

Hi

For helpful info to start, my husband and I live in Southern Illinois.

Please don't judge our lifestyle and expenditures, this is life for us and frankly, it's been rough lately, and I know there are people in worse situations. But we're only surviving because we're lucky enough to live in a cheap family-owned apartment.

I (25F) am now 29 weeks pregnant, unemployed but babysit for $40 2-3x a week. I got approved for Medicaid because I am pregnant. My husband (37M) is a FedEx Ground delivery driver and had been paying for a limited benefit plan as far as "health insurance" for a while. Heavy on the quotation marks, because it's Accident & Sickness insurance, which does not cover chronic conditions such as sleep apnea, which hubby has undiagnosed due to the limited coverage. I included him on my Medicaid application to hopefully get him approved for it too. He got denied, the reason given was: "Household income is more than the limit for this individual for this program."

His monthly income is approximately $2,500. Monthly expenditures run up to $2,000-$2,700 depending on unexpected circumstances (ie. car troubles and maintenance), and expenses that occur biannually (ie. car insurance). Pregnancy cravings get me into some irresponsible expenses as well lol.

Let's get to the point of this post, now that expenditures have been summarized. This September, we're going to have our first newborn. We plan to have the baby in our room with us for the first 6 months. My SIL brought to my attention that baby and I might have sleeping troubles because hubby has sleep apnea (undiagnosed) and snores obnoxiously, not to mention this could cause cardiovascular problems. Being a FedEx driver, he drives 4 days a week, and if he falls asleep behind the wheel because one day he gets drowsy enough, worst case scenario, he could get seriously hurt or killed. We don't know if we can afford to start paying for a new insurance just to wait for it to take effect months later, when our baby is going to be here within 2 months. It will take a lot of time to get diagnosed, get sleep studies done, and get a CPAP. All of that would help us all sleep more soundly and keep him safe during work.

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So, are there any good options for us? The new parent anxiety is overwhelming to both of us, we've somehow been scrimping for the past couple months due to substantially higher electricity because of summer rates, we're anxious about his sleep apnea causing problems in the future so he plans on losing weight to help remedy the condition, but we know that doesn't cure it. He needs treatment. CPAPs are not only extravagant in price without insurance, but need specific settings for his body, so he needs a diagnosis and sleep study.

submitted by /u/Dardariel3220
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