After more than 30 years of marriage, a couple in Maryville decided to separate. Not because they’ve grown apart, or fallen out of love, but because they desperately need health insurance. They’re among more than 150,000 Tennesseans who are caught in a coverage gap.

The combination of social security laws and TennCare is what Larry Drain calls the perfect storm.

“And we are caught in the middle,” says Larry.

Last September, Larry decided to take early retirement from social security after he turned 62, not knowing that decision would affect his wife Linda’s supplemental security income.

Larry says, “Shortly after I took retirement, social security called us in and basically said you guys make way too much money.”

He says he was told there is a limit on unearned income and they surpassed it.

“I said I don’t see how this retirement is unearned, I worked 47 years for it and they said legally it is,” Larry says.

Larry thought he could just get a job and take the retirement, but the two of them together changes Linda’s eligibility for SSI and TennCare.

“If you make more than $85 in a month she will lose her TennCare.”

Linda was born with epilepsy and her condition has worsened. For her, it’s a matter of life or death.

“When I was 45 I had something that was called a temporal amygdalectomy, it’s a type of brain surgery for seizures and it was not successful,” says Linda.

The couple tried to get around it, even writing to Governor Bill Haslam every day.

“I think I’m on letter 44 now…still never heard from him…no comment, no thank you for writing, nothing,” adds Larry.

After 33 years of marriage they decided to separate in order to keep Linda’s health insurance.

“By having her mom as an address that would get her SSI back,” says Larry.

Larry wants a chance to sit down with Governor Haslam.

“I’d like to tell him what our life is like, and I’d like to ask him what he’s going to do.”

Right now for Larry and Linda, living apart means staying alive.

Larry is blogging about his ordeal and what he’s written to the governor.