Killing with kindness
by Adam Sifre
I have a few medical issues. My knees hurt after I play tennis and I have trouble sleeping.
Oh yeah, and I have a machine that keeps my heart pumping and I'll need a heart transplant.
So, I'm doing what I need to do to get on the list. After my heart attack last year, I was unable to earn a living (I blame you. Would it have killed you to actually buy my book?). The great state of New Jersey bestowed upon me MEDICADE.
That would have saved my life. It allowed me to get the LVAD -- the thing that's keeping my heart pumping, and would have allowed me to get a heart transplant, eventually.
But then...
But then the government said I could have Social Security Disability payments.
YAY!
A few dollars in my pocket. I had some nice meals, spent some time with a beautiful woman. (It turns out, she loves me with or without social security.) Paid some of my kids' expenses.
But then...
But then, medicade sent me a letter saying: "You make too much. No more health insurance for you."
That was a problem. I called the lawyers.
"You're telling me that because one government is giving me money so that I can live, another government is taking away the one thing I need to live."
"Yep!"
But thank god for OBAMACARE! I went online and filled out whatever it was I had to fill out and, BANG! I can have health insurance! YAY!
But then ...
But then, the hospital where I would get the transplant spoke to me in the form of a woman with a nice voice.
"Here's the thing!" she said. "This hospital isn't crazy about Obamacare and, like most hospitals in New Jersey, we are only accepting second tier plans in the hope that Obamacare will change.
"That sucks for me."
"Yes, it does!"
"I was going to get the first tier insurance, but I guess I'll get the second and pay a lot more out of pocket."
Not the end of the world. Not yet.
But then ...
But then, she told me: "Here's the thing. We only accept second tier insurance polices, but if that's the health insurance you have, you won't pass the financial requirements to get on the transplant list."
"What?"
She repeated what she said. Her advice was to try to get back on Medicade.
Good advice!
It's okay though. I've already picked out my Tombstone:
"Here lies Adam Sifre. He tried, and that's what's important."
The end.
Oh yeah, and I have a machine that keeps my heart pumping and I'll need a heart transplant.
So, I'm doing what I need to do to get on the list. After my heart attack last year, I was unable to earn a living (I blame you. Would it have killed you to actually buy my book?). The great state of New Jersey bestowed upon me MEDICADE.
That would have saved my life. It allowed me to get the LVAD -- the thing that's keeping my heart pumping, and would have allowed me to get a heart transplant, eventually.
But then...
But then the government said I could have Social Security Disability payments.
YAY!
A few dollars in my pocket. I had some nice meals, spent some time with a beautiful woman. (It turns out, she loves me with or without social security.) Paid some of my kids' expenses.
But then...
But then, medicade sent me a letter saying: "You make too much. No more health insurance for you."
That was a problem. I called the lawyers.
"You're telling me that because one government is giving me money so that I can live, another government is taking away the one thing I need to live."
"Yep!"
But thank god for OBAMACARE! I went online and filled out whatever it was I had to fill out and, BANG! I can have health insurance! YAY!
But then ...
But then, the hospital where I would get the transplant spoke to me in the form of a woman with a nice voice.
"Here's the thing!" she said. "This hospital isn't crazy about Obamacare and, like most hospitals in New Jersey, we are only accepting second tier plans in the hope that Obamacare will change.
"That sucks for me."
"Yes, it does!"
"I was going to get the first tier insurance, but I guess I'll get the second and pay a lot more out of pocket."
Not the end of the world. Not yet.
But then ...
But then, she told me: "Here's the thing. We only accept second tier insurance polices, but if that's the health insurance you have, you won't pass the financial requirements to get on the transplant list."
"What?"
She repeated what she said. Her advice was to try to get back on Medicade.
Good advice!
It's okay though. I've already picked out my Tombstone:
"Here lies Adam Sifre. He tried, and that's what's important."
The end.
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Author's Note
A true story. But don't worry, it reads like fiction.
Other stories by Adam Sifre
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"*"
Only Kafka could imagine contemporary America.
With a little luck, I'll be getting adequate private insurance. Of course, the amount it will cost me will take up a much larger portion of my SS benefits than if they had simply reduced it by an amount sufficient to keep my medicade in place.
Buy his damned book, folks! It's a hoot. * http://tinyurl.com/o2zeo8x
***
While some have been helped, others have been badly hurt by the changes. Like the way you set it all out here and the voice that tells the real story.
*as said above, kafkaesque.
To kill with kindness is a method I need to learn about, since two very close intimates practice it or support it, and I said, then if you are kind, there is no telling if it is killing or kindness or whether it means gentle killing as in kosher slaughter and I still don't get it because it's social and people are human animals not food, I hope after all my food eating. Medicaid is excellent insurance that disobedient Americans detest, even if they are given it, and SSDI is basic: it is determined by a precipitous income drop more than by any medical condition in itself. So the piece is jaded and cynical and almost Midwestern in its distress and not an East Coast view of it, I think. Insurance is too complicated for all Americans, and having insurance doesn't disqualify anyone from pursuing a good life. It is supposed to help afford it.
Not sure what you mean. I am as East Coast as they come. This is not a fiction piece. It is what happened to me.
I need medicaid to live. The state decided to give me disability. Because I now receive disability, I can't get medicaid.
The health insurance I am permitted to buy through open market will not meet the heart transplant requirements becauase the hospital chose not to except the level one health plans.
I attended a health insurance session with my mother today. The atmosphere in the room of mostly seniors was heavy with the chagrin of needing something. I heard in tones of voice that many felt unused to getting something from outside help and not pleased by it. I hoped many would think of ways to enjoy retirement. Younger people than 65 or 68 or 70 feel particularly burdened by aid. Even the disease AIDS sounds like a mockery of the word aid. I am sorry, Adam, that the insurance where you live cannot be more coordinated to meet your crisis. In NY in 2008, I had youthful Medicare, and it was honored without a qualm. Medicaid in Minnesota opened up last year to include people with assets. Before, it was purely poverty-based. People could have a burial fund of $2,000 only and no security. It is good insurance. One person I know feels rejecting of it though it is so helpful and includes so many more people now, working people. I sincerely hope you get the coverage necessary for you. It is too confusing. People are distressed by the confusion of it. Best,
I'm not questioning the quality of medicaid or medicare. I agree. I wish I was able to meet it, but my disability payments are about $300.00 over the acceptable limit. What this means is that the extra $300.00 cost me my medicade, and requires me to pay $700.00 for medical insurance that may not help me as far as a heart transplant goes. But even taking the heart off the table, what has happened to me is that that by giving me a raise in disability payments, the government cost me all that raise, plus $400.00 a month, plus about 15,000 a year in medical expenses. If I could waive disability and keep my healthcare in place, I would gladly do it.