Congress and the Obama administration should end the two-year wait that people deemed too sick to work by the government face before qualifying for Medicare, lawmakers and leading advocacy groups said [last] Wednesday...
Medicare covers the disabled and older people, and at any time, 1.5 million disabled people find themselves waiting to qualify. About 40 percent are uninsured during part of that wait, while 25 percent are without insurance during the entire 24 months. Of the rest, some get coverage through Medicaid, but many end up depleting their savings on private insurance and medical bills...
Legislation sponsored by Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., would eliminate the waiting period gradually over 10 years. The proposal also would set up a process so people with life-threatening illnesses could get coverage right away....
The legislation would solve the kind of predicament that 45-year-old Yvonne Brown of Waldorf, Md., had to face. She had a steady job as an audio engineer for a radio network. But in 2000 she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an incurable disease in which the immune system attacks the nerves. She was granted Social Security disability payments in 2003, only to find out that she would have to wait two more years for Medicare.
Brown said she sold her house to pay for medical bills, but eventually wound up homeless. She was reduced to sleeping in her car because shelters were concerned that by accepting her, they would become liable for the costs of her treatment. One type of MS medication was costing $2,200 a month.
"It is an irresponsible and demeaning system that declares people disabled, and then forces them to wait two years for health insurance," Brown.
Although she now has Medicare — and a home thanks to subsidized housing — Brown said she still owes medical bills. "I am still angry and frustrated for the two years that my life was falling apart," she said.
This is an excerpt from a November 12 article in AP by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. Click here to read the full story.
1 comment:
I was disgnosed with ms in 2004 at the age of 39. I raised two sons, paid my taxes and now that I am no longer able to work because of this disease I was told by the Social Security Administration that I do not Qualify to be disabled. Am I missing something? I have gone without medical assistance for the ms since last may. I hve no income, nor medical insurance so seeing a doctor is difficult to do as the doctors require a method of payment. I was just informed it will be another 12-18 months before Social Security Administration will just look at the appeal. How much pain and suffering must I endure? I am an American citizen my entire life. I know for a fact a friend of mine who was involved in an automobile accident about 25 years ago, and was working up till this past fall where he endured seizures, he just applied for ssi 2 months ago and he was approved. Why do I have to go without medical assistance and medicine for my ms? It's getting worse and worse, and in the meantime, I have lost my car, my self esteem, my will, my faith in the government system for making me wait to get any assistance. I have applied for Medicaid and have also been denied over and over telling me I do not qualify to be disabled. When are the people who make these decisions going to be trained in the rare disease disorders and their effects on us? I really dont think My life can wait another year and a half to look at the appeal. What is this world coming to when I can't get medical insurance; however criminals, habital drug users and sex offenders get Medicaid, but I can't. When are things going to change to the better? I have called the state department of florida, salvation army, red cross local churches, the senator,and they all tell me they can't assist me. I'm devistated just knowing that my parents or my kids see me in condition, in pain, suffering, getting worse as time passes.
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