Denied. I just don't get it.

[The Straight Story]

So my X called me today and we were talking about her health care.

Right now, until the end of the month, she has full coverage for her and our daughter.

She was able to get her new MRI Monday, all paid for. Has Dr. info about her condition (parkinson's, memory loss, brain cyst, asthma, etc). She had filed paperwork with the state so that she would not have to work to get funds (she just can't work, that is the way it is - posted on this some time back). And now she is being told that she will have her benefits cut off at end of the month, unless she can show why she cannot work.

I took care of her for years, and can say without a doubt she is in no condition to work. Mentally or physically. Ohio just does not seem to grasp it though.

My daughter will be covered (will put her on my health care plan through work when it kicks in at end of month) but there is no reason the X should not have the care she needs.

her and her BF may well soon lose their house - They could file bankruptcy with a payback plan (like so many corporations do) but they still need a grand more to be able to file it and pay attorney fees. All by the 29th of this month.

Big company - get bailed out. Little folk? Screw you.

Her disease progresses, yet she is still seen as being able to function at a job that will pay her jack for the state. She needs a helping hand, but the same banks that are begging US for handouts won't help with a mere thousand dollars.

What is wrong with this whole picture? The banks come to us begging for a loan even though they screwed up and jacked their credit rating and we give it to them. We go to them with the same story and get laughed at.

I am in a decent place right now myself for the first time in a long time, and could just say screw it all and you made the bed you lay in (which she said to me today, she made her choice and has to live with it). But I don't see it that way - I see someone hurting and want to help them - and don't understand why the only time that is a good thing is when it comes to big companies.

little person makes a mistake - sorry about your luck. Big corporation screws up, let's save them.

How does that work?

[liberal N proud]

1. And the rich worry about wealth distribution

My god, they forcing us all into poverty. If you are lucky and stay healthy, you might make it to retirement, then you will no longer have health care unless you can afford it. Then there will be pre-existing conditions on every illness you ever had.

For those who do not have health care now they are just doomed to a life in poverty right now.

The rich are going to get everything we have now or later.

It sucks.

[alarimer]

2. yes, though they should be more worried for their safety.

If this gets bad enough, I say bring out the guillotines (I am only half-kidding).

[Kool Kitty]

12. I kinda agree with you about the guilllotines.

Reminded me of the saying of Napoleon-"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich".

[Bolo Boffin]

3. Welcome to rationing that Republicans and insurance companies love, love, love.

They don't like to admit it -- rationing only happens to those "socialist" plans in Republican rhetoric -- but this is rationing, pure and simple.

[abluelady]

4. And The Sad Thing is There Are So Many More Out There

I know for every story like this there are probably another few hundred that we don't hear about. It is unbelievable to me that this great country of ours has so many failures.

[WhiteTara]

5. what about SSI?

I know it takes time, but it sounds like she has a case.
Good luck. I'm sorry it is so hard.

[pacalo]

6. That's what I was going to suggest.

[pacalo]

7. Were the papers she filed from SSI?

If ever there were a case for SSI benefits, this is it. It takes about 6-8 weeks to be approved, though.

If she did file through SSI & was denied, she should try again. It's possible a mistake was made. Did she provide her medical records, a statement from her doctor?

You sure are a nice, caring person, because this is no longer on your shoulders. You're giving her cake & feeding it to her. I'm sorry if I sound cold, but after what you've been through, I suspect her & her boyfriend's previous blatant behavior while you all were living together has lessened your self esteem. Attend to your own self preservation & let them live the lives they chose.

:hug:

[The Straight Story]

8. She had filed, as has our neighbor (well, both for ssdi)

Been 4 year battle for our neighbor. And still no resolution.

My X will hear more next week about her MRI (Was supposed to have results today, but they are still going over them. Which may not be good. Her Dr. Appt was bumped until next week in hopes they have more info then).

I am thinking about asking a few friends I know for the cash to help out and will pay them back myself with interest. My little girl is caught in the middle of all this, so I want to do anything I can to make it easier for her.

I don't hold a grudge with her on all this, she has went downhill a lot and I cannot blame her anymore than I could someone with Alzheimer's. I will always love her, and promised to take care of her. She sees me as the bad guy sometimes, while other times clinging to me.

That real her - it is in there somewhere in all this mess. And I can't just turn my back on someone I love who hurts. It is a damn shame to me that folks like her are left to rot by our government and corporations because they don't have something to give back.

Caring for others should not be about what we get in return.

[orleans]

9. sorry to hear this. my best to both of you (and of course, your daughter)

wish i could offer more help.

[The Straight Story]

10. Sometimes the only help I need is someplace to off load my feelings

An DU has been that place for me for some time.

I feel hopeless at times. Powerless to make a change for others.

There is no reason why, in this day and age of computers, it should take so much effort to get simple benefits. I would gladly offer my time for free to the government if they asked to help improve their systems. But it seems like the only service they are looking for is in the way of military.

I hope Obama is listening - because there are a ton of us folks out there willing to help out. If for no other reason then we feel it is what is best for people.

[ljm2002]

11. Don't know about the rest of it...

...but I intend to keep harping to people who are just about to lose their house: demand that the lender produce the note. It is a legal maneuver that is completely within their rights, and it could buy them enough time to regroup and get through it without losing the home.

I would never advocate not living up to one's obligations. However, when the banks are screwing you over, when they refuse to work with you to work things out, then it's time to assert one's own legal rights. This is one of the few legal rights that can work to the advantage of the little person, and IMO it should be taken advantage of by anyone who is facing foreclosure.

Don't believe me? Please Google "Marcy Kaptur", a representative from Ohio, who has advocated this tactic on the floor of Congress. It is certainly worth a try, rather than rolling over for the sumbitches.

[ejpoeta]

13. i love people's response that folks are trying to get their house for free.

NO! they are not. but when the banks who have all the leverage refuse to even talk to you.... i would think it in their best interest to try to work it out so that they still get their money. foreclosed homes take a loss plus the cost of foreclosing. but i feel like they just don't care. being dicks just for the fun of it.

[ljm2002]

14. It's because most people do want to be responsible...

...and we've internalized the "personal responsibility" mantra to the point where we don't even think of pressing for our own rights on our own behalf.

A contract implies an agreement between two parties, not a hammer that one party can use on the other at will. If unforeseen circumstances arise, then good faith would imply that both parties would come to the negotiating table and see if they can work something out. Instead, what you have is one party with all of the power, who is no way going to come to the table, and that to me says it was never a good faith contract in the first place.

I've been lucky so far. But if it ever comes to that, where I am in a spot and the bank won't talk to me, then I will do everything in my power to hang on to my home. No qualms. It is way past time that we quit looking at our place in society as though we are interlopers and have to ask permission to breathe. SCREW that. WE belong here, the banks are here at our pleasure, not the other way around. They need to figure that out. We need to make them figure that out.

[madamesilverspurs]

15. Damn.

Has she talked to an attorney? She can get one who will do the work on a contingency basis. Let the lawyer do the head-butting against the brick wall.

I had my own battles with both social services and Social Security, and the first lesson I learned was that logic doesn't apply. It seems your ex has already run into that one. The second lesson was that you never EVER send them anything without making a copy of it first; it really annoys them when they tell you that your paperwork has been misplaced and you can respond with, "No problem, I made copies, I'll send you one."

Social services demanded that I produce proof of no income, yet they wouldn't tell me what that proof would be.

Social Security declared that a three-year-old medical report showed that my arms and shoulders worked well-enough to allow for significant pushing and pulling, and that I was therefor employable (never mind that when they sent me that assessment I had been bedbound and unable to walk for nearly a year). So I wrote a letter and asked my attorney to send it to them; it said, in part: "You say that I am employable. Well, where I come from work that is done in bed is neither legal nor moral. However, if you have any openings in your agency please send me an application."

With snide cynicism Reagan's coining of "welfare queen" added a veneer of polish to the hideous treatment of the underprivileged in this country, and that includes the unrelenting groveling we require of those with disabilities. We allow those with crippled souls to deny care to those with crippled bodies.

So, kudos to you for hanging in there and giving her much needed support. I wouldn't have made it through that horrific gauntlet without the loving support of family and friends.

Please let us know how this turns out, and let her know that we're all pulling for her.

[PufPuf23]

16. Physical and mental illness is fiscally impossible to deal ...

with in the current USA unless one comes from a priviledged position.

Shameful for our society.

Best to you and those you love and care for.

[obliviously]

17. The solution

Perhaps you could reconcile with her. Old wounds can be healed. You could marry her and be back with your child and everyone would have health care then.