Healthy -- and hopefully covered again soon!

The antibiotic is working -- I feel so much better! Turns out that when your pinkeye is disgustingly goopy and crusty, that means it is bacterial, not viral, and only an antibiotic will fix it.

But guess what? After all of my health insurance angst since losing my job in October, I'll soon be able to go back on my old health insurance plan -- for only $142 a month! Included in the stimulus bill is a provision for a 65% subsidy of one's COBRA premium. That's a lot cheaper than Healthy New York, which was going to cost me $233 without even any drug coverage. Apparently if you lost your job last September or later, you qualify. If you already turned down COBRA, once the bill passes you can call your old employer and tell them you want to do COBRA after all. We'll see how confusing that process will be. Hopefully it won't be too bad, because that would be the best deal by far. And if I have to see my doctor again, the man will actually get paid!

Also, people won't have to pay any federal income tax on the first $2,400 they receive in unemployment benefits in 2009. Woo-hoo!

Below is the article from the New York Times detailing how the stimulus bill could affect you.

February 12, 2009
Your Money: Stimulus Bill's Tax Breaks and Benefits
by RON LIEBER
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/your-money/13money.html?scp=2&sq=YOUR%20MONEY&st=cse

All the talk the last couple of days about the stimulus bill was about compromise and slimming down. What is left, though, is a huge spending bill, with well over $100 billion in tax breaks and handouts for individuals.
And most of us will be able to use at least one of them, though it will be difficult to get much money immediately, unlike the stimulus checks that went out last year.
What follows is a list of some of the biggest provisions in the bill that will hit you directly in the wallet. Keep in mind that the language in the measure isn’t quite final and the Senate and House still have to vote to approve it.
INCOME TAX In 2009 and 2010, there is a tax credit of up to $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples filing their taxes jointly. You calculate your credit, subtracted from other federal taxes you owe, by taking 6.2 percent of your earned income.
Your eligibility for this credit begins to phase out if you’re an individual with an adjusted gross income over $75,000 or a couple with income higher than $150,000.
Employers may end up adjusting tax withholdings on paychecks so that this credit trickles into your bank account over the course of the year. People who are self-employed can adjust their quarterly tax filings to account for the credit.
This credit is refundable, according to a summary of the stimulus bill that the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees released Thursday. That means that even if you have no federal income tax liability, you will still get the money.
UNEMPLOYMENT Normally, you pay federal income taxes on federal unemployment benefits. In 2009, however, you won’t have to pay taxes on the first $2,400 in benefits you receive.
HEALTH INSURANCE If you get fired, your company is required, thanks to a law known as Cobra, to allow you to pay to keep your health insurance, generally for up to 18 months.
The problem is, it can cost you $1,000 a month or more to keep the coverage.
Now, the federal government will subsidize 65 percent of the premium for up to nine months. To be eligible, you need to have been forced out of your job between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2009. Also, your income in the year you receive the subsidy cannot be more than $125,000 for individuals or $250,000 for married couples filing their taxes jointly.
If you lost your job after Sept. 1, 2008, and declined Cobra coverage, you’ll now get another chance. Call your former company in the next two months to find out how this will work.
You need not keep an eye on the mail for a subsidy check from the government, according Kathryn Bakich, senior vice president in Washington of the Segal Company, a benefits consulting firm. Instead, your former employer will collect the money from the government.
SOCIAL SECURITY In 2009 a number of retirees and disabled people, including Social Security recipients, will receive a $250 refundable tax credit. The money would arrive within 120 days of the bill’s signing.
CAR BUYER TAX DEDUCTION For the rest of 2009, you’ll be able to deduct the state and local sales and excise taxes you pay on the purchase of a new (not used) car, light truck, recreational vehicle or motorcycle.
This will be an “above-the-line deduction,” according to Clint Stretch, the managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte L.L.C. in Washington. That means that you can take it regardless of whether you itemize other deductions on your tax return.
Mark Luscombe, principal tax analyst for CCH, a tax information service, notes that state sales taxes alone can run 6 to 7 percent, before any county or local tax kicks in. That said, if you trade in a vehicle, your taxable purchase price may be lower.
Eligibility for this tax break begins to phase out for single people with adjusted gross income over $125,000 or $250,000 for married couples filing jointly. And the deduction does not apply on spending above $49,500.
PELL GRANT According to a summary from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the maximum Pell Grant will increase by $500, to $5,350 in 2009 and $5,550 in 2010. The grants are generally for low-income students.
HIGHER EDUCATION TAX CREDIT This credit covers up to $2,500 of the cost of college tuition and other related expenses in 2009 and 2010. You’ll need to spend at least $4,000 in a single year to get the full credit. The credit begins to phase out for individual taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes over $80,000 or $160,000 for married couples filing jointly.
Forty percent of the credit is refundable, which benefits low-income students paying their way through school (who may owe no federal income taxes).
529 PLAN EXPANSION When you withdraw money from a 529 college savings plan, you can use it for tuition, room, board, books and other college expenses. In 2009 and 2010, families can also use the money for computers and computer technology, which could include educational software and Internet service for students living at home.
FIRST-TIME HOME BUYER CREDIT First-time home buyers are eligible for a refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of the purchase price of their home, up to $8,000, if they made the purchase after Jan. 1, 2009, but before Dec. 1, 2009.
Unlike a similar credit that Congress provided last year, you don’t have to pay this one back over 15 years. The new credit, however, does phase out for individuals with incomes over $75,000 or married couples with incomes over $150,000 who file their taxes jointly. Also, you forfeit the credit if you sell the house within three years.
TRANSIT ACCOUNTS If you commute to work via public transportation, your employer may allow you to set aside pretax money from your paycheck to pay for the bus, train or parking. Currently, you can put aside only $120 a month for mass transit while those who drive and park can save $230. This year and next, those who take mass transit will also be able to put aside $230 each month.
A.M.T. PATCH Each year, Congress creates a temporary fix to keep millions of people from paying the alternative minimum tax. This year, the patch is part of the stimulus bill. “If you didn’t pay the A.M.T. last year, you probably won’t this year,” said Mr. Stretch of Deloitte. “For most people, this is a nonevent. They didn’t even realize they were in danger of being shot in the head by the A.M.T."

Why I love my doctor; unemployment benefits extension!

My doctor is SO NICE. I went to see him today and explained my symptoms, and he said he's been seeing a lot of the pinkeye/cough/sore throat/congestion combination. "The bacteria that causes it can lead to pneumonia," he said (!). Good thing I dragged myself in to see him. He also told me conjunctivitis is one of the leading causes of blindness in developing countries -- isn't that sad? :( My lungs sound clear, but he wrote me a prescription for Azithromycin, an antibiotic. He said that should clear up the pinkeye, too, but also gave me a prescription for eyedrops just in case, and said to get that filled if my eyes aren't clear by Friday.

After all that, guess what he charged me? 20 bucks. Yes. That's IT. That was my co-pay when I had insurance, so he made no money on me even though he spent 40 minutes with me -- I love that man. If you need a general physician in Manhattan you should totally go to him! His name is Dr. Stephen Shaw, and his web site is http://www.midtowninternalmedicine.com/

It cost $48.69 to get the Azithromycin prescription filled. Not bad, considering that certain medications I've gotten have cost me $60 just for the co-pay.

More good news: the Senate passed the stimulus package today, and it looks like unemployment benefits will be extended -- not just for 13 weeks, but for THE REST OF 2009! O happy day! :-D Benefits may also get raised by $25 per week, though that'll depend on each individual state, I'm sure. I'm so relieved. The unemployment/tutoring combination is allowing me to survive financially until I can hopefully (*fingers crossed*) find a full-time teaching job this fall.

Here are a couple of articles about the stimulus package:

"A Comparison of Economic Stimulus Plans" by the Associated Press:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/ap_on_go_co/congress_stimulus_highlights

A nicely detailed article that compares and contrasts the House version of the plan vs. the Senate's version.

"Stimulus would boost, extend unemployment checks" by Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press
http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_11671192?source=rss

This one has specific details about unemployment.

I got the gig!

The tutoring agency called me today and said I got the part-time Resource Room teacher job! Yay! I'm not sure yet when I'll start, but probably sometime next week. :)

Also, I was accepted to attend two days of (free) training in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) with an Early Intervention agency in a couple of weeks. Early Intervention is one-on-one teaching for kids ages 0 - 3 who are experiencing some sort of delay. After the two full days of training, I'll do ten hours of observation/practice, and if I do well with that, they will assign me some Early Intervention cases where I'll work one-on-one with kids in Brooklyn in their homes. I'm a little nervous about teaching such young kids -- babies, really -- but so many children receive Early Intervention services these days, it will be really valuable experience.

So if I can keep tutoring the seventh grade student I currently tutor through one agency six hours a week, and if I can do the part-time Resource Room teacher job through the other agency, and if I can keep my unemployment, I should be able to survive financially until I (HOPEFULLY) land a full-time-with-benefits teaching job this fall -- IF Congress passes legislation to extend unemployment benefits again. To qualify for the current extension, you have to exhaust your current benefits by March 31st, and mine won't run out until two weeks later (d'oh! missed it by *that much*!).

I really, really, really hope the extension passes. If it doesn't, hopefully the Early Intervention gig will work out and make up the financial difference. *fingers crossed*

I was pleased to see that Obama signed that bill extending health care coverage to more low-income children today (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090205/ap_on_go_pr_wh/children_s_health_20), and I'm very curious to see what happens with his proposal to make people who are on unemployment automatically qualify for Medicaid. That would really be a godsend. Let's put it this way: I receive $405 per week in unemployment benefits, which is the most you can get in NY State. But you have to pay taxes on it, so I let the feds take out 10% every week, which brings it down to $364.50 per week (I'm sure I'll actually owe about 25% on it in total when I file my taxes, but they won't take out more than 10% when they give it to you). That's $1,458 per month -- too much to qualify for Medicaid or food stamps. But the rent on my one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn is $993 per month, and the cheapest plan available under Healthy New York, the public program for those too "rich" to qualify for Medicaid (i.e., single adults without children who earn more than $600-something per month) is like $185 per month. That leaves $280 for the month -- $280 for food, electricity, phone, transportation, laundry, etc.

If I didn't have these part-time jobs, I'd never make it.

That's why this economic meltdown is so frightening. I am incredibly lucky to have an education, a teaching certificate, work experience, to be living in a big city with a variety of industries, and to not have anyone else to support besides myself. What about people, especially people with children to feed, who never went past high school and have always worked at jobs that never required more than that -- jobs that are now disappearing? What are they going to do?? :(