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Request Denied x4

02 Oct

I was going to post something I started last night but my day has just hit the wall & is splattered like a gruesome deer vs car accident. Because I’m too depressed to even function well today I’m going to rant about something for a bit & will make it up to all you fine readers by posting the other stuff later. I promise it’s good & fun.

So after being in the hospital in August I filled out a giant amount of paperwork to try to get approved for MinnesotaCare (the health insurance through the state…I’d pay a much smaller premium etc than what I’d pay if I had insurance through my job) so that my hospital stay would be covered.

Today I got not 1 but 4 rejection letters (total I have received more than 6) saying that I do not qualify to receive help from the program. I won’t even go into how horrible I feel getting 4 rejection letters….I didn’t get turned down by that many boys in all of my single life (of course I didn’t date any boys before my adorable husband but that’s a different matter).

What pisses me off to no end is that I don’t meet the income requirements for the program. I, in fact, make too much money. That’s right….me, a lowly receptionist who makes $9.50/hour at a 32 hour a week job & the sole breadwinner in the family right now, I make too much money. After the 401k deductions, the federal taxes, state taxes & social security I take home less than $1200 a month. Out of that amount I must pay rent, insurance, utilities & food. If I’m lucky I can also afford fuel for my Jeep. I was offered health insurance through my job…if I took that option by the time my portion of the premium was paid I would take home less than $100/month. I looked at getting health insurance on my own once upon a time when Abe was employed at a great job….I was denied that for reasons I won’t go into here.

While the whole country is bitching & moaning about everything from Roman Polanski to the Olympics to who knows what else and fighting each other rather than saying, “We have to do something to fix healthcare so let’s put aside who’s right & who’s left and do the job we were hired to do”….I’m staring at a pile of medical bills, the upcoming rent & the stack of rejection letters (including Abe’s job hunt rejections). Explain to me why a 15 minute consultation (without the actual exam) with a gynecologist costs $245! All she did was sit on my bed & tell me there was nothing wrong with me. I’m sorry but that’s damn ridiculous!!!!

Insurance companies take tons of blame for the cost of healthcare….and I’m not saying that they are without culpability here. I do think that if hospitals weren’t “for-profit” businesses things would certainly be better. When healthcare facilities became focused on turning a profit, pleasing shareholders & stopped focusing on treating the illnesses (not the symptoms) of the population of this country that’s when it all went in the toilet. I’m fed up & angry…..I don’t have the solution but someone out there must. I’d like to know what it is. Oh & if you are thinking about coming here & telling me I should get a higher paying job, have Hubby get a job dealing meth & “do whatever it takes” to afford health care then I’m telling you right now where you can put that comment. I work hard & Hubby works harder trying to make money….too bad with our current system no amount will ever be enough.

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Posted in Patently Ridiculous, What's in my Head

A Broken System

05 Mar

The events in this post took place between December 2007 & January 2008. I’ve written a little update at the end.

December 26th I went to the local clinic complaining of extreme abdominal pain. I was ushered into a doctor’s office where the nurse checked my vitals & I waited for the doctor. The doctor came in & talked to me before doing an exam. He determined that I did not have appendicitis but more probably a problematic gallbladder. I was given an injection for pain & another for nausea. Then the doctor scheduled me for a limited abdominal ultrasound for the 27th.

On the 27th I had my ultrasound & was sent home. The doctor called later that day to say no gallstones had shown up on the ultrasound. I was prescribed hydrocodone for the pain (Vicodone @ 500mg/pill up to 6000mg/day). I was also prescribed hydroxyzine for nausea. The hydroxyzine also has the nifty little side effect of amplifying the effects of the hydrocodone.

The next step was to schedule a nuclear imaging test for Jan 4th. I had to lie on a table for an hour without moving anything so that the tech could photograph my abdoman several hundred times. I also got a fun injection that made my gallbladder contract. This causes intense pain. Think snake bite like when you were in grade school…only to your insides and you have to lie still and not curl into a ball.

On the 9th the doctor called to say that the nuclear imaging test was fine. Still no evidence of anything amiss with my gallbladder. However, I insisted on seeing the doctor on the 10th since the pain hadn’t decreased & I’m really starting to enjoy the pain medication. After talking with the doctor he determined that a CT scan on the 16th was in order. I got 2 big bottles of barium sulfate suspension to drink the morning of the test (think orange juice poured into a glass of milk…now drink & enjoy!).

The 16th I had the CT scan. Pretty painless although the IV wasn’t fun. The tech there told me to expect to wait a week before getting the results. Imagine my surprise & even distress when the doctor called promptly the morning of the 17th. The news….still nothing apparently wrong with me. Still experiencing the same severe abdominal pain so now I get a reference to a surgeon.

January 23rd I make the trip to the hospital to speak with the surgeon. His recommendation….endoscopy followed by a colonoscopy depending on what the endoscopy shows.

Well the story ends there. I was denied the chance at an endoscopy ‘cuz I don’t have health insurance. This whole time every test, every drop of blood, every pee cup has had to be approved by the business office. Now they tell me that unless I can come up with $650 plus by the 30th (the best date for the endoscopy) I’m out of luck. I’m not sick enough for them to make an exception.

I’m too poor to afford health insurance. Even the insurance provided by my job requires so much contribution on my part I wouldn’t have any take home pay. However, I’m too “rich” to qualify for medical assistance. Of course should the worst happen & I die before my current bills are paid the hospital will be glad to harrass my husband with collections attempts while he’s busy mourning the death of his wife.

So here I sit on a Thursday night unsure of what I should do next. The most likely course of action is to continue on the medication until I’m sick enough to get treatment in an ER. Of course that’s what happened to my maternal grandfather when I was in Jr. High. He nearly died until the doctors finally removed his gallbaldder.

Healthcare….neither providing health nor care to millions in the US.

I wrote this note on my Facebook account over a year ago. Since I wrote this I’ve learned to live with more pain than I thought possible. I stopped taking the pain meds & anti-anxiety drugs so that I could lead a clear-headed life. I was missing out on too much to keep taking enough medication to keep the pain at bay & would at this point be very addicted to them. None of this post is intended to support the idea of socialized healthcare. Rather it’s a look at the utter dispair I was feeling (and still do) when thinking about how sick I must become before a doctor will treat me. What I’d really like to see happen is that healthcare professional would take charge of the “care” and provide for people based on need not wealth. There was a time in this country when the ability to pay wasn’t what determined your treatment but rather the need. Doctors cared for patients in their homes & took chickens, cows or what the patient could afford in lieu of payment. Why is it that a trip to see a doctor for less than 15 minutes with no vitals taken, no blood tests etc costs at least $90? A simple office visit to find out you have eczema & not necrotizing faciitis is ridiculously high. I want someone to fix what we have not get rid this system for a worse one.

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Posted in I AM, Patently Ridiculous, The Life We Lead, What's in my Head

More Unemployment

21 Feb

Well Hubby had a promising interview early in the month. It was the perfect job for him. Everything seemed to be lining up so that he could start working again. Instead we got a letter saying someone else got the job. So now we’re back wondering what to do. He does have 2 small jobs for sure & a 3rd is a possibility but they won’t sustain us for very long.

I know he’s struggling with the whole unemployed thing right now. It’s so unfair but there just aren’t many jobs to be had here. In fact we are hearing about more layoffs every day. The local winery where we have been displaying the Black Ash & More stuff is shuttering for a while. Like many small businesses here they are struggling. We are very sad since they have been very very good to us in the last 9 months. Our hope is they will be able to open for the summer.

Mostly I’m struggling with God’s plan for us in all this. I know He wants what’s best for us & will provide for our needs but lately it seems more like we’ve got to do this on our own. I feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. Every time it seems we are going to catch a break something else happens to drain our hope & resources. It’s been a hard long year from 2008 and it doesn’t seem like the load has gotten any lighter.

One thing I am very thankful for is Hubby’s excellent job of taking care of household chores. I’m terrible at keeping up with things like dishes. He does a great job of doing that while I’m at work. It’s been so wonderful to have him around to share lunch times with over the last several months. Just seeing him still makes me smile & makes going back to the office tolerable.

I am praying that my voice shall be heard in this wilderness & that something wonderful can still happen in our lives. I need my faith strengthened & Hubby needs his restored.

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Posted in Work/Job Stuff

Work?

04 Apr

So my husband is a carpenter. His specialty is in finish carpentry. He worked for a great company in the Cities before they had to start major cutbacks 2 years ago. We were already living here in McGregor & he commuted 2 1/2 hours plus one way for a year. Most of the time he left EARLY on Monday morning & came home on Friday night. That meant a lot of time apart. When he was getting ready to leave his old company we were very blessed for him to find a job close by that didn’t mean taking a huge pay cut.

The work is more seasonal up north where we are but still he’s managed to stay busy. Sometimes with more work than he knew what to do with. Right now he’s been unemployed since January 7th of this year. On that date he was told that there was going to be a temporary lay-off. His boss said “I’ll give you a call when things pick up again.” That was nearly 3 months ago. No word from the boss. And it certainly isn’t for lack of trying. My husband saw his boss 4 times in as many days back in February. Boss man couldn’t even say hello. After calling some of the other employees we find out that the 3 other guys have been working on and off since January 14th of this year. That’s right ladies & gentlemen…my husband hasn’t had a paycheck in 3 months but the other guys managed to completely remodel a local bank among other smaller jobs. So we’re wondering where that “We’ve got work again.” phone call from the boss went.

Now that’s not to say that my husband has been laying on the couch eating junk food for the last 3 months. In fact he’s been quite busy helping his dad who is trying to make a run at starting a handcrafted wood products business. (See www.blackashandmore.com for some of what that is all about.) However while working for Dad certainly keeps hubby busy it doesn’t pay the bills as yet. Our dream is that someday soon it will!

So in the mean time we’ve spent a large chunk of the IRA, spent more money than we meant to on things we could (but certainly don’t feel like) getting by without. We have enough food, fuel for the vehicles etc but we’re not going forwards. In fact after working hard to get to being only slightly behind on bills & not being afraid that we’d come home to find everything repossessed, we are now faced with a backward slide. It’s April & taxes are due. We’ve got medical bills from an unexpected gall bladder issue I faced (am still facing? have yet to face? will someday deal with? That’s a rant for a different day). Where exactly is that money supposed to come from? I’m working at one of the best jobs available in the area without having a killer commute & I still make less than $9/hour! My measly income plus the pittance that unemployment pays certainly aren’t going to do it.

Of course there is the upcoming “stimulus” check we are supposed to receive. Yeah right! The only thing being stimulated is my irritation, frustration & general disgust with the federal government. By the time that check arrives (if it ever does) it will only be enough to pay the bills for the month we receive it. I won’t be spending extra money on a big ticket item or vacation. I’ll be lucky if I can afford to go to my younger brother’s wedding in something nicer than a burlap sack. {Note to self: burlap sack will come in my size and fit perfectly no matter how fat I am….too bad it’s so itchy….could be a good solution to clothing needs.}

Of course if you listen to the government we aren’t in a recession…no things are just moving a little slow. A push here & a prod there and soon life will be booming again. Never mind that 80,000 more people became unemployed in the month of March alone. So where does all this leave hubby & me? Since construction is slowing more with each passing second & there are many people vying for the same type of job as him coupled with the fact that we already live in an economically depressed area all I can think is homeless. Right now we make just a few dollars too many to qualify for any of the state programs like health care or food assistance…yet by the time our income is low enough to qualify it’ll be to late to be of any real assistance. Damn government….”By the People” my ass. I vote, I pay attention to what’s going on. I even write to my Congress-people. Not that it ever changes anything.

So here I sit…frustrated, angry, tired, sad & completely unsure what our next move should be. Any ideas?