Heidy-Ho, Blogging Buddies.
I try to remain apolitical during my posts. This is not a political blog nor do I wish it to turn into one. However, sometimes things happen that make me truly angry about government-run programs. After encountering several of them recently, my anger has truly peaked so the following rant is to make you all aware of what you face.
I have been trying to assist a family friend here with some assistance. She turned 95 at the end of August. She worked her entire life for relatively low wages. She has lived alone ever since her husband died many years ago. She has no children although she does have a nephew and some nieces but none living in town. Her Social Security check each month is a net $570. Her Blue Cross/Blue Shield Medicare Supplement premium payment is $263. Is anyone else seeing a problem here?
My friend has had both knees replaced (about 12 years ago), one hip replaced (maybe 10 years ago?), eye surgery, and a recent (2 years ago) double mastectomy due to breast cancer! Yes. She has certainly weathered some substantial health challenges. She never asks for help and has been taking care of herself for a very long time. She does have folks who run errands for her and do her grocery shopping for her. She never wants to "trouble" anyone.
About 3 weeks ago, my friend called me and told me she needed help. Since she has NEVER done this, I was clearly concerned. I went to visit with her the next day. One of the replaced knees has apparently finally given out, leaving her able to get around with only great difficulty. She has begun using a walker that she had from when the knees were replaced. It is large and somewhat bulky and difficult for her to navigate within her home but she uses it. She told me she was having great difficulty remaining on her feet for any length of time due to the knee pain and that it took her so long to do things with the walker that she just was not able to handle 3 meals a day herself. What she had asked of me was to simply bring her a meal with enough to eat for lunch and dinner that same day. What was obvious to me was that this one day was not going to help enough. She clearly needed assistance during the day.
I began by calling a local Council on Aging which advised they had a list of "sitters" and their phone numbers. I could retrieve that and start calling to find help. I also called a Lake Charles-based service based on the referral from one of my aunt's caregivers. This service was wonderful. They understood the situation and told me they would get back with me if they were able to help. I heard from them about two days later and we scheduled an appointment with my friend. We completed paperwork there and they assured me they would have a person there the next day to begin helping my friend. Whew!! A relief.
My friend had advised her niece would be returning to the area in mid-September and she would come stay with her. I decided to just cover the caregiver expense since it would only be about a month. It was later that my friend told me she wanted to keep the service coming rather than have her niece move in with her. Okay. That meant I needed to explore the options to have this service covered by insurance or by some program.
I called a number provided by the service I was using for her. The young man on the other end of the line apparently pulled up my friend's information in "The Beast" (the government computer system that knows every single thing about you!) and advised me that she did not qualify for one program as she was not on "full Medicaid", whatever that is. He told me I could apply at the local office (which there isn't) or online. He also told me that she DID qualify for the "Waiver program" (GREAT!) but that she would need to complete an application (no problem), submit it (no problem), and have that reviewed in order to be placed on the waiting list for payment for the services. Okay. So what kind of timeline are we looking at here? Well, they are currently reviewing applications from... wait for it... March (it's September)!! Of 2008. Yes. You read that correctly. They are four-and-a-half years behind in application review... which is necessary before one can get on the waiting list!!! I began laughing hysterically in this guy's ear. Really??? You DO realize she will likely be DEAD before her application is even reviewed, right? He stayed on message and simply told me that he had to provide me with that information. I thanked him and advised him I do not shoot messengers but that I would hate to have his job if the best hope I could ever offer was a minimum 5-year wait.
I am dealing with this now by working toward getting Medicaid coverage for my friend. I have no idea what kind of timeline that will be... but I'm betting the state government works a little faster than the federal government. Regardless, I will make certain my friend is taken care of no matter what. She deserves it... and it's the right thing to do.
So... if you think that any government-run program is preferable to one run by an individual or a company that has to be competitive and customer-service-oriented to stay in business, please come join me in this journey through government-program Hell. I can promise you this is not pleasant and I assure you it will not get better. I just hope my sanity holds out long enough to help my friend. Beyond that, I will do everything within my power to make sure I NEVER have to deal with the government in my lifetime. What a joke.
Until next post...
No comments:
Post a Comment