I took all the info to the local office on Friday. I got a different rep this time, but he was familiar with my case. He said he would send in the info, but the problem is this: It doesn't matter that I can prove that I was covered by group insurance. It doesn't matter that I can prove, through pay stubs and W-2 forms, that my husband paid for that group insurance. It doesn't matter that I have EOBs that identify the company he worked for and used his insurance to pay my bills. They want that form. Period. It's the law and is not flexible.
Meanwhile, he can get me started with enrolling during the General Enrollment Period, which starts in July. I will be paying almost $300/month instead of $122-something until I turn 65, but at least I'll be covered. And we can still fight the good fight to get them to recognize that I have fulfilled the requirements, backdate until February 1, and pay back any penalties they charge me. That could take several months.
So we tried again with the final company who did all the purchasing of the other companies and got a nice lady who agreed to research employment records. She found records going back to shortly after the first company purchase, which is helpful, and will fill out the form for the years she can find records for. That leaves 2 years unaccounted for, from the original company. We might be able to find the HR guy from back then to fill in the gap, as my husband is still in touch with most of his colleagues from back then. Wish me luck.
A word of advice: If you are disabled and on a spouse's group insurance, get form CMS-L564 filled out every time s/he changes jobs or his/her company gets bought and keep them in a safe place so you don't have to go through this. The letters from the insurance companies that are generated automatically will not help.
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