Too Poor to be "Sick and Poor" in America

[McCamy Taylor]

There’s poor. And then there’s poor. The members of the second group know what I’m talking about. You are Too Poor to be “Sick and Poor” in America, when you qualify for government funded insurance, but you only have two dollars in your pocket and the co-payments for the three asthma drugs you need will cost you thirty dollars--- make that twelve, if you take your prescription to Wall-mart, which is still ten dollars more than you have right now. Monday through Friday, a social worker can get you a voucher so you don’t have to pay that thirty dollar fee, but today is Saturday. And there is a holiday weekend coming up. Too bad the poor are not allowed to take a holiday from being poor in celebration of Memorial Day. Did I mention that the woman with only two dollars and the bad lungs is a veteran?

You are Too Poor to be “Sick and Poor” in America, when you find out your co-payment to see your doctor will now be twenty-five dollars. That extra fifteen dollars was supposed to be your gas money---your city, which is one of the largest in the state, still does not have a bus, even though it has helped pay for two stadiums. So, now you have a choice. Drive to your doctor’s clinic, but do not get seen because you can not pay your part of the bill. Or, stay at home and use the twenty-five dollars to make a payment on your $20,000 “burial” insurance policy. Too bad you live in a community property state in which your spouse will be forced to hand over that $20,000 to your creditors when you die---creditors in this case, being the credit card company which you had to use to pay for all the extras that your health insurance did not cover. You, my friend, are too poor to get buried in America.


You are Too Poor to be “Sick and Poor” in America, when you can not get Social Security benefits for your many health conditions, because you are too poor to get the tests that would confirm that you have the problems which you know that you have, like sleep apnea, a pinched nerve in your back, emphysema and a bad heart. You’ll have to wait until two years after your first stroke to qualify for Medicare. Just be sure to go to a hospital when your right side goes numb and you lose the ability to talk. If you try to weather it at home, to avoid tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and if your symptoms eventually get better, then the stroke never happened, as far as Social Security is concerned.

You are Too Poor to be “Sick and Poor” in America, when you have to sign up for a Medicare managed care plan, because that’s the only way you can afford your prescriptions, but none of the doctors on your so called Medicare Advantage plan are taking new patients right now, so you can’t get a prescription for the drugs that you can now afford.

You are Too Poor to be “Sick and Poor” in America, when you do not have a photo ID to prove you are who you say you are when you go to the doctor’s office. The government is too broke to give away your indigent healthcare to some other poor person. It gave all our tax money to the banks, including the one that owns your medical debt that you can never write off, because real Americans do not get something for nothing and if they make bad economic decisions---like suffering a heart attack they could not afford---- they have to pay the consequences.

Real stories from the front line of the class war, May, 2011.

"There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning."
— Warren Buffett

[bobburgster]

1. Very depressingly true!

K&R

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. .

:applause:

[LuvNewcastle]

3. If I didn't have some good friends and family,

I really don't know how I'd survive. When I think about the people who don't, it makes me angry.

[ejpoeta]

5. none of us can do it alone. that's what gets me. People think they have done it alone but they

haven't. One way or another they have had help from someone. It might be parents or friends or the government, but they have had help from someone. I myself am thankful for the help I have had in my life. I never forget it. I have had family help me. I have had food stamps. I have had cash assistance at one point. HEAP. I have had the red cross after our fire. My dad helped us get a loan so we could get our house. Without help we would still be struggling so hard. I am thankful. And I do what I can to pay that help forward. And would never begrudge that help to another. We all have that help one way or another. Sometimes we just don't realize it.

Sometimes it's as small a thing as having someone stop to help change your tire on the side of the road. Sometimes it's someone returning your purse to the courtesy desk. We have all had help. Some of us could survive a fall. But when you are in a hole, it's a lot harder to dig your way out and when you fall you fall farther down that hole.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. Reminds me of "The Grapes of Wrath."

One of the best things you can tell a poor person is "I'll be there."

[ananda]

24. Where are the Steinbecks and Murrows today?

There's such a vacuum in great fiction and reporting these days.

[ejpoeta]

4. in this state, if it was going towards the burial first the the creditors couldn't touch it.

and they couldn't touch the insurance money either. but my dad was not married either. i live in NY. he lived with his girlfriend. what he had left in his account could be used to go to his funeral costs so that was where it went. then my dad had put my sister as the beneficiary of his insurance (one of them) which was used to pay the burial and we decided to get a headstone for he and my mom. there was another one with his girlfriend as the beneficiary which she used to pay her bills or for doctors or something.

It is depressing that the poor are treated so poorly. Like trash. Worse than trash. We are all people. Someone's parent, child or loved one. What if that were your family member. How would you want them to be treated. What about the veterans who are homeless and poor who are thrown away. It is sickening. I laugh when people like to call this a christian nation. Give me a break. They like to call themselves that, but they treat everyone like garbage. I hope they never have to suffer the treatment they put on others.

[REP]

6. I remember getting a $240 Rx for a kidney infection once; I asked if I'd die without it

I would have, but there was no way I could have paid for the Rx even though I was working. The doctors and nurses at the public hospital rounded up every sample they had and gave them to me. Same hospital took me on as a charity patient when I had cancer and no insurance, 20 years ago.

That antibiotic is available as a generic now and I have insurance now - and wonder what I'd do without coverage. Drown in my own fluids, probably.

[PatSeg]

30. What wonderful people

The price of some of these drugs is absolutely outrageous.

[OneGrassRoot]

7. Huge K&R....sharing. n/t

[MedicalAdmin]

9. This is certainly my story.

I can't afford care but I don't qualify for help because I can't get the tests I need to prove I need help.

This country is an unredeamable shithole. And when the pain is bad like today I find I hope it dies screaming like I know I will.

[eilen]

18. That was my Mom too, before she turned 65 and

qualified for Medicare. She was chronically ill with COPD and if she had been properly cared for, it would not be as bad now. If Medicare had not been there she would be dead now. We could not afford the tests either. She could have gotten SS earlier if we could. She had no income for a few years between unemployment and Medicare and my brother supported her (well, to be fair, she did take care of his kids and his house for him as his wife had left so I guess he "employed" her). My brother is a good egg.

[MedicalAdmin]

28. Glad to hear that your family made it.

In my case, at age 45, with all my savings gone, with no other options, I am facing another 20 years of poverty or homelessness before I even qualify for a program, that if the repubs have their way, will not be around by then.

I give up.

[eilen]

38. We have to stick together

I am 45 too. I am lucky in that my husband is working and I do have a job--it is part time but it is a job and we have health benefits with my husband's union. Granted there is a deductible so it hasn't actually paid for anything yet this year--but then we also have been lucky and my dh has only had to go to the Dr once, my son once although I had to cancel my physical because I could not afford the bill as my son needs to get a filling at the dentist (his check up and cleaning negated my physical that month). I have inquired at my hospital about a more permanent position (I am perdiem) but they seem to want to hire the young new grads. My mother will be coming to live with me this summer and I don't know if I will be able to maintain a rigid schedule vs the more flexible one I have now with her here (Dr. appts etc.). My nephew is also coming for school reasons so we will have a full house.

I hope things look better for you soon. If you interview in my neck of the woods and need a local reference, I'll be happy to do it. I am in central NY.

[madrchsod]

10. you forgot this.....

you could be held in contempt of court if you failed to pay a court ordered payment plan on your medical debts. i got out of mine scrapping up 1000 dollars and declaring chapter 7. now i`m totally fucked...64 and 7 years with out racking up thousands in medical bills. simple solution is get divorced so my wife isn`t saddled with my medical bills after i`m gone.

at least my parents did`t have to face what my generation will be facing in the coming years.

[ejpoeta]

16. i guess that's the new american dream. not having a house with the white pcket fence...

that you won't get sick or hurt so you won't lose everything you've ever worked your whole life for. that's where we are. as long as no one gets sick or hurt, we are ok. as long as bob doesn't lose his job. we can keep treading water. i worry about what it's going to be like for my kids. as long as bob and i can not get hurt or sick and at least have a house to leave the kids (we'll see if we can get our debt paid off in time) then at least they'll have that. maybe we can teach them the importance of at least having that one thing that is paid for. and always pay your taxes so you have your house and a roof over your head. it might not be the biggest house or the best one... but at least for now it's ours. the only thing that's ours.

[hobbit709]

11. I have afriend who just got on disability

She can't get Medicare until 2 years on disability. She's no longer on Medicaid because it ran out on her. She can't get a city/county MAPS card because she makes too much money on her disability. She's 56 and luckily she's in fairly good health.

[999998th word]

12. Thank You

very eloquent, very true.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lyric]

14. Rhythm just got out of the hospital.

She has a severe peritonsillar abscess that isn't getting better, even after the horrifically-painful needle aspiration and scissor-lancing that was done. Clindamycin for a week isn't working either. She was hospitalized when her throat swelled closed and she could no longer swallow liquids without choking on them. In the hospital, she received IV Unasyn, IV steroids, and pain medication that brought the swelling down enough for her to be able to swallow fluids again, but she has to have surgery on Friday--a tonsillectomy--because it's the only way to get rid of the deep abscess in her throat.

The doctors are willing to perform the tonsillectomy even though she has no insurance, which is a miracle. HOWEVER...they will NOT do it if her throat swelling and inflammation comes back before Friday. They can't safely operate on swollen, inflamed tissue. They gave her prescriptions for Augmentin, Prednisone, and a painkiller--she's supposed to take large doses of all three for the next few days in order to keep the swelling and inflammation down before the surgery. We can't afford to fill the prescriptions, and she has no insurance.

Right now, she's taking her leftover clindamycin because it's all that she has, but she's already failed clindamycin, so there isn't much of a chance that it's going to work now. She has no steroids at all. Our biggest fear right now is that her throat is going to swell up again before Friday, which mean ANOTHER lost 2-3 days of work while they put her in the hospital to bring it back down again. And when she's discharged again? We'll be facing yet another set of prescriptions that we can't afford to fill.

Augmentin is expensive, and Prednisone, while not UBER expensive, is still more than we have--and that doesn't even count the painkillers she needs and can't afford to get. Without them, eating and drinking are too painful. She'll be dehydrated and weak instead of strong when surgery day gets here, and I can't even imagine her post-surgical agony without any painkillers to help get her through the first week. I had my tonsils out when I was 15, and it was excruciating, even WITH pain meds.

Believe me--we know what it's like to be too poor to be sick and poor. This past week has been one of the biggest nightmares of my life. I've barely slept. I've hardly eaten. I can't stand watching her go through this. I feel like I'm just shutting down inside.

:cry:

[ejpoeta]

17. i wish i could help. ((hugs)) not that that does much.

i wish our reps had to deal with these things. maybe they would do things to help us like they are supposed to. they are supposed to be protecting us from the corporations. instead they work for the corporations. Tonsilitis.... a fairly simple thing to fix. and i don't mean simple except that it is treatable. yet here in 3rd world america.... it's enough to cause a lot of pain and no one seems to care. I've got mine F*ck you!

[chervilant]

29. hmm...

"I got mine; f**k you!" should be recognized as the 'gold' standard of the GOP.

[juajen]

36. Meds

Generic Oxycodone is cheap and so is generic augmentin. I have used both with great success. I do not know about the steriods, but I imagine there is a generic. Naproxin Sodium is also a good pain reliever and it is available as a generic otc.

I realize you are having a horrible time, but pain medication can be obtained very reasonably if you use generic. Also generic antibiotics generally can be obtained.

I'm not sure I understand why antibiotic and pain meds are too expensive when they are reasonably priced if you use generic, and actually, are quite cheap. Perhaps I am not understanding everything about this predicament. Also, naproxin sodium is very good for reducing swelling and/or inflamation.

[a2liberal]

37. Prednisone is pretty cheap too

$4 at Walmart, <$10 at a bunch of other places. I actually didn't find augmentin (generic) extremely cheap anywhere, but it seemed to be $40-ish at Walgreen's (IIRC) and I also didn't look very hard (just some brief browsing this morning)

[cutlassmama]

15. K&R.

[ctsnowman]

19. Great post!

Thanks.

[dotymed]

20. The truth for me is

that I have insurance (temporary disability) from my Union. I have my conditions documented by the best Dr.'s in Indiana and now TN. IU and Vanderbilt, besides the specialists for my spine.

You are Too Poor to be “Sick and Poor” in America, when you can not get Social Security benefits for your many health conditions, because you are too poor to get the tests that would confirm that you have the problems which you know that you have, like sleep apnea, a pinched nerve in your back, emphysema and a bad heart.

Social Security does not (I guess) trust those Dr.'s/researchers/professors, they want me to go to their "Independent Dr.'s" (most do not even have a receptionist, nor they can speak decipherable English) To examine my faltering heart (6 stents and 4 reinstenosis) and my four nerve impingements in my spine.
I have been at this for five years. I have attempted many jobs. My Cardiologist wrote it out for them : "no competitive work situations ever, because of Michael's heart failure, he will experience good and bad days, he is not able to work on a set schedule."

Social security (what an oxymoron) has scheduled me (four times) to visit "their" Cardiologist, which is a five hour drive, I did/could not travel there. Now they have me scheduled on the 17th to visit a family practitioner in my town, to determine if I am disabled.....

[mntleo2]

21. What????? Did you drive there w/o car insurance? You cad!

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

In my state it is illegal not to pay ANOTHER damn insurance company for car insurance. While I believe in trying to do that, when you are poor, there is no way or help for that either ~ in a place where bus service is at best a 1 mile walk and only comes during the work week (whatever that is because 70% of low wage jobs are odd hours and days where bus service does not exist or is an hours long wait at the bus stop). It is $500.00 fine for a ticket if you get stopped and if you drive a clunker, you might as well put a sign in your back window that says, "Ticket me!"

Hang in there, many activists are coming to the place where we think it is time to take our protests "to the next level" and we are trying to figure out what that looks like. Suffice it to say, most likely, more and more of us will be dragged by the police out of some governor's office in a sit-in ~ or something.

Love,
Cat in Seattle <--- long time activist for low income folks and low income myself

[madokie]

22. Only one question

If she is a Veteran then why is she not getting her meds through the VA system? I'm on two different meds for COPD and late onset asthma and I get my meds mailed to me.

[BadtotheboneBob]

27. I've had great VA care since 1998

...the VA keeps getting better all the time. My primary care VA hospital is in Saginaw, MI and is wonderful. I receive specialty care at the Ann Arbor VAMC which is affiliated with the University of Michigan Medical Center and all the doctors I see are U of M. On June 9th I'll have an ENT tumor removed there (VAMC) by a professor from the 'U' medical school. The pharmacy refill system could not be better. Refills ordered by phone or internet and mailed. I know that they have occasional problems, but with over 1,000 hospitals and clinics bad stuff can't help but happen. Getting into the medical care system is not hard to do at all and many veterans who never considered the VA in the past are doing so now with the high insurance premiums and/or loss of employment. As a DAV-Life member, I have helped many get enrolled. The major issue with the VA is the huge backlog of disability compensation claims and the inordinate time it takes for them to make their determination and start paying. That has been a significant problem for years and it's getting worse now with the current group of returning veterans.

[madokie]

33. Yup same here

I avoided it like the plague but on my 54th birthday with my left foot swelling up about to burst I had no choice so I go get in the system and I was found to have a DVT in my left leg and spent a week in the VA hospital. I couldn't have been treated better medically or by the people. Since then I've encouraged several Vets, one is here at DU to get down to the VA because its isn't what you might think and later they've all thanked me for my encouragement because they've had the same experiences as we've had.
My first day there I said I'm here to take orders not to give them and you could have heard a pin drop and the lady who was helping me with my paper work said we're not used to that attitude, many come in here barking orders. That might have had an effect, I don't know but I do know that they've treated me well.

[fasttense]

23. The despotism in America is truly startling. n/t

[Overseas]

25. Sad K&R.

[ck4829]

26. K&R

[colsohlibgal]

31. Forgotten People

When politicians, including Obama, say help for this or that will "kick in" in 2013 or whatever what of people who need help now? - if they do not get it now these folks might not be here in 2013.

[Lucky 13]

32. I have been that poor. Some things I did to get by...

I swallowed my pride and told my doctors of my financial situation. They helped by providing samples of medicine whenever they could... which was sporadic. But if you are poor, the only thing you really can do is not get sick... which is pretty hard to do when you don't have enough nutritious food to eat.

Some things I did to keep myself fed...

I would search the community paper and find out when churches were having potluck dinner nights. One night I was Unitarian. The next Episcopal. The next Catholic.

I would check to see if the nearby University was having a guest lecturer because that typically meant there would also be cheese and crackers or some other light, but free, food.

I learned to gather every spare coin I could find in my house, work, car, lawn, street, parking lot, wherever... they add up and can be the difference between having something to eat and not.

I learned that if your power gets shut off, there's a way to cut into the wires of your phone jack and use it to power small electronics.


There are a thousand other little things that you just don't think about if you aren't living paycheck to paycheck or are unemployed. Like you must always know EXACTLY how much money you have on you at all times... down to the penny. You also must know how to calculate tax in your head so that you always know you have enough to cover it.

Being that poor is psychologically scarring. I'm in a much better situation now than I was 2-3 years ago. Working a great job with a decent salary, but I still find myself being scared to spend money on anything. For example, I can't yet convince myself to buy in bulk. When you are used to buying one roll of toilet paper at a time and only enough food to eat for 2-3 days... I guess it's a hard habit to break.

[annabanana]

34. When you're down there are boots aplenty to make sure you stay there. .

For every rung you fall down the ladder, five grow in the space between where you started and where you landed.

[G_j]

35. K&R!

and a big Thank You!