Well first financial door for med help for Chris Slammed Shut!

[Nancy]

Like others, I think your best bet now is with politicians.

 

[hensylee]

Ross, Medicaid is a combined federal, state, county program. I know this because I used to have to pay the county portion every month. I would see what the feds and state paid when I got our bill. Ohio cannot have run out of Medicaid funds - they are required to pay their fair share. Could the turndown be from the Victim's unit and not Medicaid. Jackie's villain has filed his appeal and we got letters saying that if we wished to attend any of the hearings we would be paid for meals, housing, mileage by the Victims program. But some states' budgets might not be all that much and your state may have closed that program for lack of money. I think Ohio has become quite poor over the last years.

When applying for SSA they always turn down first try unless patient is terminal (I heard of one case recently that wasn't terminal, but it was the first I ever heard of). When turned down by Social Security, you MUST challenge them. Eventually Chris will get it if he keeps trying so don't give up. They finally pay and it is retroactive to date of filing and that will mean a pocket full of $ that will help him get back on his feet again and get some bills paid. When he's turned down I believe there are 60 days to challenge - do it. Even tho you may not care for your senator, you should complain to his/her local office. I knew a senator's assistant in Orlando and she told me that they got a lot of requests for help with Medicare and SS disability and the senator (Paula Hawkins, R-Fl.) and other senators did not like to get complaints of this sort and the people were helped in nearly all cases.

I was the county social worker and we got people in that wanted their medical bills paid or at least get help paying them. We had a budgeted amount. It can run out fast. Generally fiscal year begins Oct 1, so get on in and see what they have. Might be something there.

County/state welfare may have something. If you cannot get to them, they SHOULD come to you. They may have some sort of stipend that Chris could get.

Chris has friends. If they are good friends, they should start a fund by having a fund raiser and opening a bank a/c to help pay his bills. Have them advertise on TV - local news events should do it for free. Good PR.

Hospitals sometimes write off debts of patients who are never going to be able to pay. You can appeal to the hospital Board. One of my best friends presented her case to the hospital Board and they wrote hers off.

Churches have funds, you have to go ask them. OUrs helps people all the time. Our church is serving Christmas dinner today for those in need. Salvation Army helps. The police departments have funds. Military service clubs may help or may do a fund raiser. Letters to the editor may get you some help or at least maybe some ideas. I used to use every avenue I could think of to get help for people. It never hurts to ask; they can always tell you no, but they just might point you in another direction. I found lots of help just going from one agency to the next one that the previous one told me might help.

Blessings to you all, Ross.

 

[Nan]

Aye, chihuahua!!! What a system!

Just adding my support to you and also to the idea that at this point your best bet is politicians and the media. Could be presented as a "christmas present" from the state.

Hang in there.

 

[Guest]

Cort the only thing I can figure is that there are other programs that he will be eligible for, but this one he's not for the reason cited. I've looked, but havent' fouind any besides traditional medicaid, which is what I thought this applies to. At least I hope so!

Hmmm.... Not to be too pessimistic, but it still sounds rather "fishy" to me. If he is eligible for other programs, the person should have been good enough at her job to TELL you ... instead of sending you to somewhere they knew was not available anymore.

*shrugs*

Either way, it stinks ... plain'n'simple.

As always, thoughts/prayers coming your way on this.



Cort:33swm."Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"I know I told you that I could survive" ... Deborah Allen ... 'Baby I Lied'

 

[aussigal]

I'm mad about the raw deal you guys have been dealt...
this is just absurd...
I reckon you need to move to Australia!

 

[maka]

Ross
I know is so frustrating but agree with others,,,try to get help from members of the community, Look for a chapter of Legal Aid, they are lawyers that help people with no means for little or no charge and make your case with them. Maybe a letter to the newspaper that printed about the accident as a "follow up" of the case and its implications may get their attention and take your case to the public. Maybe your church or any group you or Chris ever belong, can start a fund raising and an aware campaing. Try MADD (Mother Against Drunken Drivers) and tell it about the accident and ask whether they can help you with the Disability application

 

[Lisa in Katy]

This may have been answered already, but shouldn't either the other person's or his car insurance pay for it? Has he already maxed out? When we were in an accident, the other insurance company paid all medical bills.

 

[lcwhitney]

d to have an atty even after my stroke inorder to get social securityTry finding A social security atty or Apersonal injury atty. I had to have my atty and appear before a socialsecurity jude to get approved for social security. I'm not sure this would help but it sure can't hurt.

Lettitia

 

[Ross]

This may have been answered already, but shouldn't either the other person's or his car insurance pay for it? Has he already maxed out? When we were in an accident, the other insurance company paid all medical bills.

The at fault driver had NO INSURANCE and NO LICENSE. Now Chris and hes then girlfrend did, but a very meager amount. It covered maybe 20% of the bills.

I was informed yesterday that he is still being considered for medicaid, that the disability assist program wasn't any good. We shall see, believe me, I've contacted every possible source of help there is and it's going to take time.

 

[Susan BAV]

Hi again Ross -

I suggested 60 Minutes because there's obviously a flaw in the system that this guy was such a known and blatant reoffender. They love stories like that.

Perhaps more practically, however, you could contact a local chapter of MADD. Perhaps there is someone there who could help take some of the load off you by their previous experience? Maybe contacting MADD has been suggested before; I don't recall.

 

[Lynlw]

Ross, Dr Phil was on in the background and i was too lazy to get up and change the channel, anyaway the show was about being 1 paycheck away from disaster, anyway at the end of the show, dr Phil told about a program the united way is doing 211, where (supposedly,but i'm a cynic ) you call and they can tell you where to get help, what agencies can help you ect.
I went to United ways site to see if ohio's program started and here is the link http://www.211ohio.net/default.htm
I don't know if you tried them yet, but thought i would pass it on, and hope it helps, lyn

 

[hensylee]

I didn't even think of them, Ross. There's also St Jude's - even tho Chris isn't a wee child, he's still under adult age, isn't he? He might get surgery there.

 

[Ross]

We'll be alright, it's just going to take forever to get approval for some of these programs. I have one nasty bill to call about in a few minutes since they don't seem to read their mail from attorneys or I. Gettin all huffy and threatening collections. Hey, be my guest, the bill is usually cheaper that way anyhow.

 

[bvdr]

I didn't even think of them, Ross. There's also St Jude's - even tho Chris isn't a wee child, he's still under adult age, isn't he? He might get surgery there.

Ann, are you thinking of the Shriners? I have a life-long friend who has a daughter with hemi-hypertrophy (one side of the body grows much faster and larger than the normal side) and the Shriners have taken her under their wings from the time she was diagnosed as a small child.

Ross, maybe you could contact them since, if I remember right, orthopedic problems has always been an area in which they are actively involved. I don't know if he is older than what they consider a "child" or not.

I hope Chris is improving and that he is learning the guitar and filling your house with music.....and if not, you have very good earplugs.

 

[Ross]

He's just laying around collecting dust. I keep trying to get him to think of something he might just enjoy learning and doing while he's collecting dust. He's pretty focused on walking on this foot again, then driving his car again, then maybe building his relationship with his now ex fiancee back up. Fixator comes in 3 weeks!

 

[LUVMyBirman]

That's just a plain old form letter Ross. From what I understand....disability is tough to get. Mainly because of the misuse of the system. Individuals that truly, truly need it are denied. There are attorney's that specialize in such. Which in turn they take a percentage of your benefits I beleive? Why isn't this all being covered under the accident? Or....Chris's ins....if the person at fault was uninsured? If Chris is uninsured....the state should be helping. Tons of red tape. Why you may need a good lawyer!

 

[Karlynn]

Do I recall you saying you had contacted a lawyer?

At this point, with all the money owed to the illustrious medical community, I think I'd begin to feel "what's a few more bucks to a lawyer gonna hurt?" If you don't have one, contact the state or local Bar Assoc and see if they can give you a list.

And just another thought - if they are starting to get a bit pushy about collecting the medical bills, maybe write a well-worded letter to the editor about getting stuck with large med bills due to an uninsured, unlicensed drunk driver. Hospitals don't want to see themselves look in-"hospitable" in the press.

 

[Lynlw]

Do I recall you saying you had contacted a lawyer?

At this point, with all the money owed to the illustrious medical community, I think I'd begin to feel "what's a few more bucks to a lawyer gonna hurt?" If you don't have one, contact the state or local Bar Assoc and see if they can give you a list.

And just another thought - if they are starting to get a bit pushy about collecting the medical bills, maybe write a well-worded letter to the editor about getting stuck with large med bills due to an uninsured, unlicensed drunk driver. Hospitals don't want to see themselves look in-"hospitable" in the press.

I agrree with Karlynn and might have to mention the helpful program the state has that no one gets approved for

 

[hensylee]

Ann, are you thinking of the Shriners? I have a life-long friend who has a daughter with hemi-hypertrophy (one side of the body grows much faster and larger than the normal side) and the Shriners have taken her under their wings from the time she was diagnosed as a small child.

Ross, maybe you could contact them since, if I remember right, orthopedic problems has always been an area in which they are actively involved. I don't know if he is older than what they consider a "child" or not.

I hope Chris is improving and that he is learning the guitar and filling your house with music.....and if not, you have very good earplugs.

I was thinking of St Jude's (Danny Thomas hospital). They do free surgery on kids if they can't afford.

We have vans in the local area that take patients to all sorts of places for treatment, etc. I use them for nearby towns so I don't have to drive. Costs me $10 to go to Pensacola 70 mi there and 70 mi back. The driver told me they even drive to Shands which is about 250 miles away from here. Maybe there is a van outfitr at your area, Ross. Ours have wheelchair vans as well as bus type and it's a tri-county outfit. Those who can't afford, don't pay at all.

 

[Lynlw]

I was thinking of St Jude's (Danny Thomas hospital). They do free surgery on kids if they can't afford.

We have vans in the local area that take patients to all sorts of places for treatment, etc. I use them for nearby towns so I don't have to drive. Costs me $10 to go to Pensacola 70 mi there and 70 mi back. The driver told me they even drive to Shands which is about 250 miles away from here. Maybe there is a van outfitr at your area, Ross. Ours have wheelchair vans as well as bus type and it's a tri-county outfit. Those who can't afford, don't pay at all.

I believe st jude is only for cancer or other blood related diseases