Will insurance backdate?

My kiddos had hawki Medicaid (WellPoint) here in Iowa. Their renewal came up and I applied and renewed. I received a letter in the mail stating they were approved for delta dental ONLY but I completely misread this and assumed they had been approved. I was relieved. This was 8/2

Fast forward. My 3 year old son was at preschool today and consumed a cashew which is a known anaphylactic allergen for him. I picked him up from school and drove him down the block to urgent care. They administered epi and insisted he go by ambulance to the nearest ER.

We checked out after his 3 hr observation and the secretary pointed out his insurance wasn’t in the system. I then went to the pharmacy to pick up his prescriptions and was told he doesn’t have coverage. Returned home, reread the previously mentioned letter and realized my mistake.

They were denied despite my family meeting income guidelines for hawki Medicaid. I immediately got online and appealed.

My children are eligible to receive insurance through my work place but the monthly expense is way out of budget. Either way, if I contact my HR with this qualifying event (the loss of their coverage) are they able to backdate my enrollment date 1 business day (back to 8/9 which is today, when this all occurred)?

I feel like such a POS right now. 1000s of dollars for the ambulance and ER and can’t even pick up my son’s essential prescriptions…

submitted by /u/Eli-Oop
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