Looking back during my undergraduate years, there were a couple of things I wished that I did a little differently…one of which was getting more acquainted with my classmates. To give you a little context, I graduated from the University of Florida’s Communication Sciences and Disorders program in 2014. UF’s program is slightly unique because you apply to be accepted into the major the beginning of spring semester of sophomore year. Junior and senior year classes are specialized with almost all of them pertaining to audiology and/or speech-language pathology. Because the classes were specialized and limited to a certain number of students who were accepted into the major, I had more opportunities to become friends with my classmates. Alas, I failed to seek out friendships and didn’t really talk to many of the classmates I had, which resulted in missing out on group-studying opportunities. I realized later on in graduate school that (actual) group-studying could be incredibly effective and useful for actually learning the material. Needless to say, forming those relationships and connections are important!
Connections with classmates aren’t the only ones that are important. Building relationships with your teachers and professors is equally crucial. I was fortunate enough to have some of the same professors for multiple classes, which then helped me establish a better relationship with teachers. Recommendation letters are important for applying to graduate programs and job applications and to have a convincing letter of recommendation, it definitely helps to good connections with teachers, professors, and/or mentors.
I was an SLP working at a skilled nursing facility in Brooklyn and unfortunately had to make the difficult decision to quit my job during COVID-19. During this time, I realized obtaining information for health insurance and filing for unemployment/Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the paid family leave is such a time-consuming and seemingly impossible feat…so I thought I would try to create a “sparknotes” version of it in hopes of helping out anyone else needing this information during this time. Note that the below applies only to New York State as the process differs by state.
Filing for unemployment. There are two forms of unemployment assistance. The first is the standard unemployment insurance (UI) program, and the second is the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. To apply for both, follow these steps below:
A. File an unemployment claim through the Department of Labor (DOL) website: https://unemployment.labor.ny.gov/. You will need to create an online account as part of this process. Note that due to large application volumes, you may only be able to apply on certain days. ofthe week.
B. Once you have an online account, you can then go into your to “Online Forms,” then “Forms Available for Filing,” and then also file the “Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Application.” Note that you must apply for UI before you apply for PUA; if for some reason you have applied for PUA without applying for UI, you need to restart the process and file them in order.
C. Direct deposit is an option to receive your unemployment/PUA benefits, so make sure direct deposit is set up in your account if you would like that as an option after filing a claim.
D. After filing a claim for regular Unemployment Insurance, you will automatically be reviewed to see if you also qualify for an additional weekly $600 for Federal Pandemic
After completing the steps above on April 8th, I received both UI and PUA money on April 17th through direct deposit. Also, make sure you claim your weekly unemployment benefits EVERY WEEK! You just log into your unemployment account, click “Online Services” and go to “Certify Claims”. They ask you a series of questions to see if you qualify for that benefits that week. The week ends on Sunday, so make sure you do this befoe then.
If you accidentally missed claiming unemployment benefits for a certain week, you will have to go through a separate process to claim the missed benefits. To start this process, you need to send a secure message to the DOL through your online account. The information that I read states that it could take up to 2-3 weeks to process.
2. Filing for health insurance. This is a different process from unemployment. I’m sharing my experience going through the New York State of Health Marketplace below.
A. I first went to the NYC Health page: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/health-insurance.page. There you can get free, in-person help to access low-cost health insurance. I called the number listed on the website and left a voicemail with my corresponding enrollment officer.
B. I received two phone calls the next day. The first call was for a health insurance screening (done completely over the phone), and the second call was the actual health insurance application with an enrollment officer (again done completely over the phone). Make sure you have your most recent month’s worth of pay stubs as well as proof of your unemployment status ready, as these are needed to process the application.
C. During my application call with the enrollment officer, I was told that my application cannot continue due to an “HXID stop”. I did not and still do not understand what this was and why it blocked my health insurance application. Nevertheless, I had to call a separate number given to me by my enrollment officer to remove the stop. I ended up calling the same number three separate times over the course of a week before my enrollment officer called me back to tell me that the “HXID stop” had been removed and helped me finish the application. My application was approved on the call, and I was able to choose my healthcare plan on the spot.
D. I received my health insurance membership card in the mail roughly a week after my application was approved.
I hope that this information was helpful! Good luck to everyone who has been affected by the pandemic.
