Well, I called my State Representative's office (Todd Hunter) and spoke with a very helpful gentleman named Beck. I explained my situation: being told to go die by the Medicaid office, and expressed my frustration with the system.
You see, if I continue to receive Food Stamps (now called SNAP for some stupid reason) and Medicaid for my son (he has private insurance, but qualified for Medicaid as a back-up and it paid for his speech therapy), then the state will force James (ex-husband) to pay child support. But if I receive that child support, I am ineligible for Medicaid.
So basically, I have to drop the Food Stamps, Medical Assistance for my son, and child support to completely zero out my income so that I won't die of cancer. (Or will at least be given the opportunity to fight for my life.) These are the hoops I have to jump through in order to have a fighting chance.
While I was having a political discussion with my father about this whole mess, I received a call from the local Medicaid office stating that they will call me for a phone interview/application for my Medicaid on 10/10/09 between 9:45 and 10:00am. Now, I'm not sure if Beck is responsible for this timely appointment or not, but I would like to hope that he did make the calls he promised me.
I skipped that part, so let me fill it in. Beck expressed concern at how robotic the local office was about my application and my need for medical care. He mentioned a High Risk Pool insurance for Texans, and offered to make some calls to Medicaid on my behalf to see if he could help speed up the process for me. I must admit when my dad suggested I call the Representative, I figured I would get to leave a voice mail and would receive a form letter in the mail. The fact that Beck gave me personal attention, (and I'm using his name so much because he acted like a human being and not some faceless government agent) expressed concern for my well-being, and assured me that he would make the effort of a few phone calls and some internet research on my behalf gave me some confidence in my situation.
He promised to email me about some insurance options as well.
Now, I did check out the High Risk Pool, but as I'm sure most of you reading already know: my cancer would not be covered for 12 months, as it is a pre-existing condition. Now, if I want to pay premiums for 12 months and wait to get it treated, then they will cover it. But in the meantime, anything related to cancer treatment would be denied.
While writing this, Beck called me back, less than an hour after I put in my initial call to him. He explained that he was working with his Ombudsman in the Health and Human Services office to track down and expedite my application. I thanked him and told him about the call I had received, but he said he would try to get things done even sooner if at all possible.
He also started explaining the High Risk Pool to me, and said that he also found the hurdle of my having a pre-existing condition, but he didn't stop looking. He gave me a link to some non-profit organizations that help with copays and financial assistance, and said he would be checking in on me to keep up to date.
http://www.texashealthoptions.com/cp/disable.html
http://www.txhealthpool.com/Financial%20Resources%20Table%20CURRENT.pdf
Time to go exploring on the internet.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Welcome!
This is my first entry in my new blog devoted to my cancer and its treatment. I thought it might help to keep track of this journey separately from my regular daily life.
My next entry will be a recap of what has happened so far: my hospitalization, surgery, and diagnosis.
Today I took on the exciting task of applying for healthcare assistance! My first stop was the state Medicaid office, otherwise known as Health and Human Services. After filling out my application, I took it to the window to find no one at the desk, the phone ringing off the hook. Eventually a woman appeared and took my application, informing me that someone would mail me a letter giving me an appointment to return to that very same office. When I asked her how long that takes, her answer was "it depends." Specific as that is, I asked for clarification. "It depends," she repeated.
"Depends on what? Surely you have some kind of estimate?" Well, she finally pulled a date out of her ass and told me that right now they are scheduling appointments for the 10th of October, so I might get an appointment some time around then.
I told her about my diagnosis, that every day counts, and that I was afraid to wait that long. "We don't have emergency Medicaid. You have to wait."
So because there is no ticky box for "dying" (only for "pregnant"), I can basically go home and let my cancer eat me alive while waiting for an appointment.
So my next step was the County Indigent Care office. I was seen right away, and what I thought was an application was filled out by the clerk. But then she read off a paragraph of a script that told me I must apply for Medicaid instead.
When I explained to her my situation, she did take the time to nod and talk to me about it, but wasn't any help. "As soon as you get denied for Mediaid, then we can let you apply for our services. Until then, you have to wait."
She told me I would most certainly be denied for Medicaid for having too much income. Now let me explain something: I have no job. I had a cluster of things happen to me this summer including my home being broken into, everything stolen, losing my job, and then my apartment. I moved in with my parents and less than two weeks later ended up in the hospital having emergency surgery.
My income? Child support. I get $328 a month from my ex-husband in order to care for my son. Because I get that money, I make too much to qualify for care. It doesn't matter if I pay rent, buy food, whatever with that money. It doesn't matter that I cannot survive on just that income. It's too much, according to the government.
My only options? Give custody to my ex-husband (not an option in my opinion, or really in his, I think - he works graveyard shift full time in a small town where childcare is limited) or die. Or so I thought. I called the Attorney General's office and asked them if I could cancel our child support order. The clerk asked if we were back together, or if I just wanted to randomly close the case, so I explained the situation.
She thought it was ridiculous that I would have to do such a thing, but agreed to mail paperwork to me that I could sign and agree to close the child support case for the time being. As long as I don't try to get Medicaid for my son (he currently has it as a back-up to his private health insurance) then hopefully the state won't step in and make him pay child support. She's not sure if it will apply to me or not.
I am hoping that if I drop my application for food stamps, that they will give me the medical assistance that I need and will just let things be. Of course, most Americans will know that it just isn't that easy.
So now? I wait for the mail.
My next entry will be a recap of what has happened so far: my hospitalization, surgery, and diagnosis.
Today I took on the exciting task of applying for healthcare assistance! My first stop was the state Medicaid office, otherwise known as Health and Human Services. After filling out my application, I took it to the window to find no one at the desk, the phone ringing off the hook. Eventually a woman appeared and took my application, informing me that someone would mail me a letter giving me an appointment to return to that very same office. When I asked her how long that takes, her answer was "it depends." Specific as that is, I asked for clarification. "It depends," she repeated.
"Depends on what? Surely you have some kind of estimate?" Well, she finally pulled a date out of her ass and told me that right now they are scheduling appointments for the 10th of October, so I might get an appointment some time around then.
I told her about my diagnosis, that every day counts, and that I was afraid to wait that long. "We don't have emergency Medicaid. You have to wait."
So because there is no ticky box for "dying" (only for "pregnant"), I can basically go home and let my cancer eat me alive while waiting for an appointment.
So my next step was the County Indigent Care office. I was seen right away, and what I thought was an application was filled out by the clerk. But then she read off a paragraph of a script that told me I must apply for Medicaid instead.
When I explained to her my situation, she did take the time to nod and talk to me about it, but wasn't any help. "As soon as you get denied for Mediaid, then we can let you apply for our services. Until then, you have to wait."
She told me I would most certainly be denied for Medicaid for having too much income. Now let me explain something: I have no job. I had a cluster of things happen to me this summer including my home being broken into, everything stolen, losing my job, and then my apartment. I moved in with my parents and less than two weeks later ended up in the hospital having emergency surgery.
My income? Child support. I get $328 a month from my ex-husband in order to care for my son. Because I get that money, I make too much to qualify for care. It doesn't matter if I pay rent, buy food, whatever with that money. It doesn't matter that I cannot survive on just that income. It's too much, according to the government.
My only options? Give custody to my ex-husband (not an option in my opinion, or really in his, I think - he works graveyard shift full time in a small town where childcare is limited) or die. Or so I thought. I called the Attorney General's office and asked them if I could cancel our child support order. The clerk asked if we were back together, or if I just wanted to randomly close the case, so I explained the situation.
She thought it was ridiculous that I would have to do such a thing, but agreed to mail paperwork to me that I could sign and agree to close the child support case for the time being. As long as I don't try to get Medicaid for my son (he currently has it as a back-up to his private health insurance) then hopefully the state won't step in and make him pay child support. She's not sure if it will apply to me or not.
I am hoping that if I drop my application for food stamps, that they will give me the medical assistance that I need and will just let things be. Of course, most Americans will know that it just isn't that easy.
So now? I wait for the mail.
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