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Sorry I probably shouldn'r even post this but I need to vent. I had an appointment with New Mexico Human Resources department today. I weent with low expectations and came out the same.
After talking to the woman in charge and explaining my situation (been sick for 4 1/2 years now for those who know). They offer me not medical help, but food stamps! I can't have the help to return to the workforce, or a normal life, but I can eat now!
I don't need food, give that to people who really need it. I need freaking medical help! I mean I've been here with a hurting distended abdomen (right side). I can barely do anything due to the pain it causes me. Hell only eat once a day because it cause me to be nausious most the day (though if you looked at me you'd think otherwise).
I mean what am I supposed to due now? I don't qualify for Social Security or any of the state run programs. The best they can recommend is to buy my own insurance... With what... my good looks.
Geez...
Sorry for the ongoing difficulties, Lazaro. Wish I had something helpful to say, but this falls in an area where I am utterly clueless. Rant if it helps. There's no stupidity like bureaucratic stupidity.
I don't pretend to understand the American health care system and have no business commenting (ignorant Brit here), but that's insane by any standards.
Bureaucracy I am qualified to rant about. Worked in the civil service for ten years in a state of mingled outrage and hysterical laughter at the overwhelming stupidity. Finally outrage won and I left.
That sucks, my sympathies.
Sorry to heard that pal... Hope you find something that works out fo you
Yeah, man -- that blows. As much as I am against centralized medicine and Universal Health Care, there has to be something that they can do for a person who wants to get back in battery so he can work and be a productive member of society.
You're obviously hurting -- food stamps ain't gonna cut it.
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So news from the front...
Had another meeting at Human Resources today. Still nada on the health care. They've signed me up for review for their GA plan (a type of helth program for low/no income homes). But the chances are slim. One because my problem have no been diagnoised as a disability. Two, because I haven't been able to see a doctor in 3 years.
But I did hear I'll be receiving $200 in food stamps, Whop-de-do!
After that they had me go and see the Social Security Admistration. The only way to get the GA to go through is to be denied for SSI. So I now have an appointment there on the 23rd. But gods the woman was rude. Took a seat and told her why and what I was there for. She looked at me and bit my head off "Do 'YOU' have a legitimate disabilty?"
"No" I said being that I don't have the $10,000 for a CT-Scan. "Have 'YOU' recently seen a doctor". "No", again. "Than how do 'YOU' know you have a problem". After this and a few snide comments she signed me up to see someon.
The good thing about the SSI is I may get to see a doctor no matter the outcome. A full check up at no cost to me... hopefully.
So news from the front...
Had another meeting at Human Resources today. Still nada on the health care. They've signed me up for review for their GA plan (a type of helth program for low/no income homes). But the chances are slim. One because my problem have no been diagnoised as a disability. Two, because I haven't been able to see a doctor in 3 years.
But I did hear I'll be receiving $200 in food stamps, Whop-de-do!
After that they had me go and see the Social Security Admistration. The only way to get the GA to go through is to be denied for SSI. So I now have an appointment there on the 23rd. But gods the woman was rude. Took a seat and told her why and what I was there for. She looked at me and bit my head off "Do 'YOU' have a legitimate disabilty?"
"No" I said being that I don't have the $10,000 for a CT-Scan. "Have 'YOU' recently seen a doctor". "No", again. "Than how do 'YOU' know you have a problem". After this and a few snide comments she signed me up to see someon.
The good thing about the SSI is I may get to see a doctor no matter the outcome. A full check up at no cost to me... hopefully.
Wow makes me glad I live in Australia. I have a minor problem I go to the local GP the tax payer (Me) pays for me to see the doctor. If the problem is more serious then I go to a public hospital - sure I may have to wait up to a year if it is not life threatening but I will still have medical care. The tax payer (me again) subsidizes a lot of medicines so I can afford what is necessary.
I don’t mind sharing my tax money to care for others in more need than me. Besides I may need that help in the future.
Vent away. If someone thinks their self-important post belaboring the evils of 4e is more important than what little catharsis you may get out of this thread, they can come kiss my fluffy, white bum.
The best they can recommend is to buy my own insurance... With what... my good looks.
U.S. health care is an absolute travesty. We've got the best doctors and specialists in the world... and when people try to use them, their insurance (if any) simply stonewalls and refuses to cover it, and the people are left to file for bankruptcy. My wife, WITH full-coverage health insurance, recently ended up paying something like $5,000 for a band-aid (it was supposed to be $15,000, but her repeated appeals and threats of litigation eventually lowered it).
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The best they can recommend is to buy my own insurance... With what... my good looks.U.S. health care is an absolute travesty. We've got the best doctors and specialists in the world... and when people try to use them, their insurance (if any) simply stonewalls and refuses to cover it, and the people are left to file for bankruptcy. My wife, WITH full-coverage health insurance, recently ended up paying something like $5,000 for a band-aid (it was supposed to be $15,000, but her repeated appeals and threats of litigation eventually lowered it).
Yeah, Memorial Hermann tried to charge me a grand for a Motrin and a Alieve when I threw my back out last year, after running zero tests and not even touching me physically (other than to take my vitals). I gave them $40 and told them to f&$# off.
Good thing medical bills don't go on the credit score...
Insurance, any insurance, is a scam. My hat of insurance nose know bounds!!!1
Of course they stonewall and refuse to cover it when it comes time to collect. That is cutting into their profits. It is a gamble. You are gambling that you will need it and they are gambling that you will not. And the house never likes to loose.
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So per the NM Human Resourse office I visited my last doctor to get my medical reports. Well come to find out they're lost again! And the only placee who may have a copy left is hosptial.
But it gets better. The doctor's nurse, the doctor was FAR to busy to see me himself, told me he wouldn't be able to give me the record anyway because I haven't had a check up in since 04-06. Funny becuase it's the state of New Mexico wanting the old reports not me. Well I ask her how much it'll be just to see him... just talk... no poking or proding... "It'll be $50 to to make that appointment" after taking a look at me and the face of rage/shock she asked "Do YOU have any insurance, medicare or medicaid card?" to which I gritted my teeth and said NO.
Well after that she sighed and said that she would talk to the doctor to try and arrange something and if he atleast remembered who I was. But to try back tomorrow... It's days like these I waish you for the ability to force choke people, kill with a thought, or ateast have a notebook that would do the work for me... =(
*Edit - But I got my EBT/food stamp card today so that makes up for all this bull**** right... RIGHT
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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The best they can recommend is to buy my own insurance... With what... my good looks.U.S. health care is an absolute travesty. We've got the best doctors and specialists in the world... and when people try to use them, their insurance (if any) simply stonewalls and refuses to cover it, and the people are left to file for bankruptcy. My wife, WITH full-coverage health insurance, recently ended up paying something like $5,000 for a band-aid (it was supposed to be $15,000, but her repeated appeals and threats of litigation eventually lowered it).
Whereas in Canada, we have free medical care but no doctors. I waited 8 hours in the emergency room after a traffic accident last year, finally I said screw it. Got in a cab home and the taxi driver gave me some great medical advice for free ... he was a doctor in Pakistan but couldn't get recertified to practice here.
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Whereas in Canada, we have free medical care but no doctors. I waited 8 hours in the emergency room after a traffic accident last year, finally I said screw it. Got in a cab home and the taxi driver gave me some great medical advice for free ... he was a doctor in Pakistan but couldn't get recertified to practice here.The best they can recommend is to buy my own insurance... With what... my good looks.U.S. health care is an absolute travesty. We've got the best doctors and specialists in the world... and when people try to use them, their insurance (if any) simply stonewalls and refuses to cover it, and the people are left to file for bankruptcy. My wife, WITH full-coverage health insurance, recently ended up paying something like $5,000 for a band-aid (it was supposed to be $15,000, but her repeated appeals and threats of litigation eventually lowered it).
Yikes, but in my case I wouldn't care about the wait. Take a pillow, a book and a blanket. Make a campout of the thing as long as I see someone and they tell me more than "I don't know" or "It looks like a tum... I mean you need a CT-Scan before we can be sure of anything"
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Whereas in Canada, we have free medical care but no doctors. I waited 8 hours in the emergency room after a traffic accident last year, finally I said screw it. Got in a cab home and the taxi driver gave me some great medical advice for free ... he was a doctor in Pakistan but couldn't get recertified to practice here.
Make it easy for Filipinos to immigrate there and you will have more than enough doctors and nurses.
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Oh free consults, what about procedures? Cause I may move heheheActually, a lot of Americans retire to the Philippines because of the very favorable exchange rate.
hmmm Philippines huh? I need to write that on my list of places with with better care.
So far in consists of only
England
France
Canada
Cuba
and the Netherlands
That is beyond the capability of the word "stupid" to encompass. I can think of a lot of other words that would encompass it, but my son reads these boards sometimes.
Jeepers Laz. Sympathy isn't much good, but it's all I've got to offer.
I really don't understand US insurance policy, you pay for the insurance and then they deny you?
Greed is a sin, you don't even have to be a believer to know it is true.
Lazaro, you have my sympathy.
This case is why so many people are starting to believe that badly run government health care is better than the current system.
Hey man, that really sucks.
Around here, health insurance is mandatory, and only a few specific things aren't covered (like alternative practitioners or experimental treatments - I've never personally encountered the latter), so I can't imagine how it is to be in pain and not being able to go to the doctor.
Even medicine is paid for in part, and probably fully for those without the income to pay (and for children, as far as I know).
Still, you have my condolences, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that it works out.
Vent away. If someone thinks their self-important post belaboring the evils of 4e is more important than what little catharsis you may get out of this thread, they can come kiss my fluffy, white bum.
Hey, I have a great idea: Let's not talk about this in this thread at all. Not fair to take a stab at one side and hide behind empathy or something like that.
I really don't understand US insurance policy, you pay for the insurance and then they deny you?
Well, it's insurance. Had seen enough cases where one sort of insurance or the other had to be forced to pay for something almost at gunpoint.
I really don't understand US insurance policy, you pay for the insurance and then they deny you?
Naturally. If they pay, it cuts into their profit margin. If they deny you, they collect your money and pay out nothing... the perfect money-making scheme!
And the thing is, as noted, it's hard to get doctors to even see you if you don't have insurance -- once you get there, you still have to sign a form that says "I agree to pay the full bill if insurance does not cover it."
I really don't understand US insurance policy, you pay for the insurance and then they deny you?Naturally. If they pay, it cuts into their profit margin. If they deny you, they collect your money and pay out nothing... the perfect money-making scheme!
And the thing is, as noted, it's hard to get doctors to even see you if you don't have insurance -- once you get there, you still have to sign a form that says "I agree to pay the full bill if insurance does not cover it."
Oh I get the how and why, just not the soul-sucking immorality of it :>
Oh I get the how and why, just not the soul-sucking immorality of it
Careful! In the U.S., profit is never immoral unless it's in the form of a large golden parachute. To think that insurance company profit is immoral, however, is to deny the American truism that "All business is self-regulating, and therefore any government regulation is badwrongevilCommunist."
Oh I get the how and why, just not the soul-sucking immorality of itCareful! In the U.S., profit is never immoral unless it's in the form of a large golden parachute. To think that insurance company profit is immoral, however, is to deny the American truism that "All business is self-regulating, and therefore any government regulation is badwrongevilCommunist."
Sorry about that.
I live in the Netherlands, which sometimes seems like an utopia. My health insurance company has a non-profit goal, so I just don't know any better, stupid communist me ;>
(I don't endorse communism by the way)
Sorry about that. I live in the Netherlands, which sometimes seems like an utopia. My health insurance company has a non-profit goal, so I just don't know any better, stupid communist me ;>
(I don't endorse communism by the way)
I didn't necessarily mean to imply that I, personally, believe that truism... as it is, I was born in Germany, so I'm with you completely. ;)
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Well just got back from seeing the quack... doctor. He signed my papers and I submited them to the resourse office. Hopefully we can get this ball rolling... doubt it, but you never know.
I was amused to see who helpful and willing he was to sign the papers with an exam of any kind. But truth be told my father is one of his patients, and he (the doctor) loves my parents insurance. It pays for every test exam and presciption he writes. Morphene is crazy expensive... And he wouldn't want to lose my father as a patient.
Well, it's a step ahead of where you were, so that's something. Keep kicking the door. Now is not the time to be reserved and polite. This from an uptight, reserved and polite Brit.
Until recently I was a big believer in non-governmental regulated healthcare, but the fact that insurance companies and the medical industry are making it impossible to keep up with payments and are providing the level of service a govenmental agency would be expected to is changing my viewpoint.
Yes, as TD said the wait for someone to see you could become immense. Problem is, in many places here they are already. Going to an ER in America has become a nightmare, insurance or no. If you are lucky enough to find a doctor willing to add you on to their stable of patients there is a three-month lead time for most regular checkups. And despite company-supported health care I am still paying $175 dollars a week for my family.
I wish that the industry could regulate itself, but the greed of insurance and the drug companies/hospitals is pushing us straight into socialized medicine, for better or worse. My payments will be less, but the level of service, already abysmal, will most likely drop even further. Ah well, so mote it be.
You have my sympathy, Laz. I had to move to Korea to get a job and health care for my chronic disorder. Hopefully Obama can catch the US up to the rest of the first world nations.
See, this is why you need to move to Antarctica. Not as many jerks there.
See, this is why you need to move to Antarctica. Not as many jerks there.
I dunno, Cleave. I met this one pack of penguins that wouldn't lay off with the "get a haircut" comments. Nice place to fight aliens and get stranded outside the warmth of your research station at night, but I wouldn't want to live there.
Hopefully Obama can catch the US up to the rest of the first world nations.
Must...resist...replying...
I cast "Resist Replying/20" on Garydee.
Thanks Derek. I was starting to weaken. I think I should leave this thread before I get into trouble. :)
There are programs for people at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale - and the people at the top don't need them - but it's quite a struggle for those in the middle trying to hoist themselves up by their own bootstraps.
For something to cause so much pain for so long and without improvement sounds like it could be a significant medical issue. I don't know if any of this might apply to you, but here are some things to consider.
Some large communities have a 211 service -- free information and referrals for social services. Some organizations/programs are gatekeepers. For example, in California, having Medi-Cal (CA's Medicare/Medicaid entity) is a prerequisite for receiving lots of services. But once you jump through the Medi-Cal hoop, doors suddenly open. On the other hand, I know of an organization that at no cost provides all kinds of wonderful services for families: counseling, nutrition, health care, parenting classes, child care, etc., etc. Unfortunately, the prerequisite is to be investigated for child abuse! Find out what the gatekeepers are in your community. A good question to ask is, "If you can't help me, do you know who could?"
Some non-profit organizations have case managers who can help you coordinate services and can hook you up to experts/programs you might not be aware of. Catholic Charities (and you don't have to be Catholic to receive services) is one well-known example.
Is there a walk-in or low-cost medical clinic where you are? Once I needed a physical and TB test to get a job and I didn't have medical coverage yet. I went to the walk-in clinic, paid $90 out-of-pocket, and got what I needed with no insurance hassle. Check out your county medical center; they routinely provide health services to low- and no-income individuals. They may also have case managers as well.
Finally, and this is a little out-of-the-box, if there's a medical school or university nearby, you may be eligible to take part in a health study which could address your condition or another condition that affects you (e.g., chronic pain, insomnia), and they may take physicals and blood tests as a baseline and give you no-cost care related to the study.
It can be difficult and discouraging to get into the system and to have to work it, but there are people within it who can and will help if you can find them.
It can also be difficult for formerly self-sufficient people to have to rely on these kinds of programs. However, this is what the taxes you paid in good times go to. When times are good again, you can donate, volunteer, and/or pay it forward.
I hope this helps, and I hope you get the care you need.
See, this is why you need to move to Antarctica. Not as many jerks there.
No no no Antarctica is no good - The Antarctic Space Nazi's have a base there.
I have allways wanted to use them as bad guys in a campaign. :-)
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Some large communities have a 211 service -- free information and referrals for social services. Some organizations/programs are gatekeepers. For example, in California, having Medi-Cal (CA's Medicare/Medicaid entity) is a prerequisite for receiving lots of services. But once you jump through the Medi-Cal hoop, doors suddenly open.
Clostest thing to this is the NM Human Resouce Dept., who I am currently dealing with.
Some non-profit organizations have case managers who can help you coordinate services and can hook you up to experts/programs you might not be aware of. Catholic Charities (and you don't have to be Catholic to receive services) is one well-known example.
Nothing like this around my neck of the woods. And to ask any of the churches in Clovis for anything you have to either be good with someone in it, or willing to join and devote yourself to them... Nothing aginst people who are religious, but we got some real nuts out here.
Is there a walk-in or low-cost medical clinic where you are? Once I needed a physical and TB test to get a job and I didn't have medical coverage yet. I went to the walk-in clinic, paid $90 out-of-pocket, and got what I needed with no insurance hassle. Check out your county medical center; they routinely provide health services to low- and no-income individuals. They may also have case managers as well.
Now we do have something like this in Clovis, it's called La Casa. I was once able to see a doctor there for $25. Now for the bad part the doctors there just agreed with the doctor from the hospital in saying that I needed the CT-Scan before I could really be examined. Also the clinic does all their tests and exams through the hospital. So will I could see a doctor for a lower price I would still have to pay the hospital to run the tests.
Also the hospital is county medical center. The second closet would be Portales, NM. But it's run by the same people who run the one in town. I've applied for both the hospitals and countys indigient fund at hospital and have been told twice to the face by the head of the hospital head of billing and human resources I don't qualify for either. Both funds are based on income and since I don't have income, but rely one my family for housing and everything else that it would be based on there income. My mother is the only working person in the house, my father became disable after an accident at the air force base while at work. SSI give him $200. month. But since my mother makes over $32,000/year that puts me/her over the acceptible amount set in fund.
Finally, and this is a little out-of-the-box, if there's a medical school or university nearby, you may be eligible to take part in a health study which could address your condition or another...
Now this one is of some interest, but the nearest University Med. School is 90 miles away in Lubbock, TX. How who I be able to find information on studies? And would they or the state pay for my transportation?
I hope things get better for you.
I think i will leave it at that, other than to say i am eternally greatful for the NHS despite its flaws.
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Gods this sucks. Fifth day of having to go to the workforce (unemployment) office to look for a job. What's funny is that they know I can't work, but since I can't see a doctor I have to file applications looking for work. It's a drag :(
I mean there are a few jobs that look great and I'd like to do (PepsiCo., I'm looking at you. You too Warehouse Personnel at Paizo), but do to Collywobbles, for those of you who didn't know we named it... Ya I we were really bored when we did this.
I will say my mom is happy to have some help with the bills, the foodstamps/EBT has been a plus. Though it embarrasses everytime I slide the card. Don't ask why it just does.
Not fair to take a stab at one side and hide behind empathy or something like that.
Project much?