u/Alternative-Fig-496

Please excuse me if this is a dumb question, I just cannot for the LIFE of me figure it out. 2024 grad, been paying my default amount every month since.

When I go into Aidvantage and then enter the menu for repayment options > options list > explore federal loan repayment plans, it LITERALLY just redirects me to the studentaid.gov loan simulator, with no option to ACTUALLY ENROLL in the plan. I don't care about the simulator. I've done the simulator 1000 times. I know what i want. I just can't seem to find a form or a menu or anything to actually apply. I am genuinely at my wits end here, any help would be appreciated 😭

[please do not call me an idiot/be mean in the comments]

I am at my wits end with insurance; have read through so many posts on this sub & done my own research and I am COMPLETELY lost as to how to proceed from here.

- I had an initial consult last December with my network obgyn
- was approved for surgery scheduled 2/19
- got a call a week before surgery telling me insurance denied the claim and i would need to pay half the deductible cost up front ($900) couldn't reschedule, got nowhere on the phone with anyone, so I just paid it (and DO expect to be fully reimbursed so help me god)
- surgery and recovery went smoother than i even thought possible :]
- the bills started rolling in. so far ive only received bills for my consult, anesthesia services, and pathology, but can see online that the rest were also denied by my insurance and will come sometime soon.
- my insurance keeps telling me i have to pay up to my deductible amount, even though i know this is illegal, not to mention the fact that it's a high deductible plan and i can't afford that (the $900 for the surgery was a strain as-is)
- my healthcare provider is (thankfully) super helpful over the phone with this sort of thing, and has put off sending me to collections since they know I'm still fighting with insurance
- healthcare provider cannot or will not (idk which...) recode for insurance unless the INSURANCE asks them to. insurance won't do anything because they say my PROVIDER needs to reissue the claim.
- filed an appeal with insurance a few weeks ago now, and just got a denial letter in the mail saying the same thing about me being responsible for deductible & coinsurance, and that consult/anesthesia/etc aren't covered under ACA (a bold faced lie)

what do I even do at this point?? i feel like i've reached a stalemate between insurance & provider, with both wanting me to just pay up (never gonna happen). its worth noting that of the... 4? 5? people ive spoken with from the insurance company, 2 of them claimed they had never heard of the ACA before and the others said "ACA isn't listed as a benefit of this plan" ................... 0 critical thinking involved with anyone there, it seems. (plan does have to be compliant, I checked.)

Reporting/otherwise involving the employer is a no-go as I am on someone else's insurance and don't think they'd be willing or able to raise that stink for me. Cannot stress enough that I am broke, so any legal action has to be free or like. less than a couple hundred bucks on my end. who do i even go to with this next?? im planning to call my provider back and plead my case for them recoding it, but i am not optimistic.

It sounds silly, but genuinely is a question I am asking. I always end up worked into the ground for the lowest paid positions; being a "good employee" has never actually helped me to make more money, or even get better opportunities. I am leaving my job at the end of the month, and am looking to change my current field & dismal trajectory within it.

Are there jobs where your compensation is entirely (or at least mostly) based on how hard you work and/or how much work you do? (If you say "start a business" please be more specific because I know some of you just mean dropshipping LOL) Or am I just naïve and this concept is a lie we tell kids to make them do their homework?