For those not intimately familiar with 'The System' - lets do an overview of Medicaid - or at least from Ohio's perspective since that is the state in which I reside. This is a Crazy Crazy System - and often makes no sense whatsoever to me. I thought the picture of the 'scary cat' was quite apropose.
So I am sitting in front of my computer, working, waiting for the next call to come in, and I am thinking, 'Well, what if I could try for Medicaid again'. Again, the definition of insanity is attempting the same thing over and over - expecting a different result. Call me insane - fine - I never claimed to be entirely 'with it'. Living with kidney cancer for over 2 years will do that to you. After an hour of being hung up on at work and called a few names I decided to log out for a break and check out
Ohio's Medicaid webite. I have linked in the part where it tells you who qualifies.
Who Qualifies? Well....families, first and foremost. This includes pregnant women, children up to the age of 19 and families with children under the ages of 19. Fair enough. Then there are those over the age of 65 or those disabled. Well, I am 39 years old - so I am stuck in the middle. Surely there is something out there for a 39year old woman. There is - but you have to be a refugee from another country OR an alien (and not the little green kind). Since I am a U.S. citizen - no help for me. Smack my hands for even thinking such a preposterous thing.
Well...they do offer some other assistance....like if I had breast or cervical cancer (or even a pre-cancer condition). Nope - just kidney, ovary and liver here mixed with a handful of upper and lower abdominal lymph nodes in the game. I got mad - then noticed the toll-free number on the screen for the Medicaid Consumer Hotline.....which BTW is 800-324-8680. Talked with a nice gal that seemed very informative until I brought up what my old caseworker said about getting a divorce to help boost my eligibility....of course, that got her shaky and she claimed to not know anything about such a thing. That's what I thought.
I was hoping to find out that the system had perhaps changed some criteria over the past 2 years. It looks doubtful. She offered to send me another application that I can fill out from the privacy and comfort of my own home and just mail in to my local office. Fine. Mail it. I will fill it out and send it back. Not that I am hoping for any spectacular response....but at least I will have tried again. I need medical coverage.....I need Medicaid.....so what the heck.
So - we shall see. I am just willing to bet my little FarmVille that not a damn thing has changed - which if you review the Ohio Medicaid website linked above, you will discover that too. If only I was a refugee or an alien.....then they would do something. What a crock that a U.S. citizen between the ages of 19 and 65 - with no children at home, not pregnant and with no pathology report for a disability approval - just has to sit and let the cancer spread....in pain....with no means of relief. Yeah - what a great country....what a great system.
For those not intimately familiar with 'The System' - lets do an overview of Medicaid - or at least from Ohio's perspective since that is the state in which I reside. This is a Crazy Crazy System - and often makes no sense whatsoever to me. I thought the picture of the 'scary cat' was quite apropose.
So I am sitting in front of my computer, working, waiting for the next call to come in, and I am thinking, 'Well, what if I could try for Medicaid again'. Again, the definition of insanity is attempting the same thing over and over - expecting a different result. Call me insane - fine - I never claimed to be entirely 'with it'. Living with kidney cancer for over 2 years will do that to you. After an hour of being hung up on at work and called a few names I decided to log out for a break and check out Ohio's Medicaid webite. I have linked in the part where it tells you who qualifies.
Who Qualifies? Well....families, first and foremost. This includes pregnant women, children up to the age of 19 and families with children under the ages of 19. Fair enough. Then there are those over the age of 65 or those disabled. Well, I am 39 years old - so I am stuck in the middle. Surely there is something out there for a 39year old woman. There is - but you have to be a refugee from another country OR an alien (and not the little green kind). Since I am a U.S. citizen - no help for me. Smack my hands for even thinking such a preposterous thing.
Well...they do offer some other assistance....like if I had breast or cervical cancer (or even a pre-cancer condition). Nope - just kidney, ovary and liver here mixed with a handful of upper and lower abdominal lymph nodes in the game. I got mad - then noticed the toll-free number on the screen for the Medicaid Consumer Hotline.....which BTW is 800-324-8680. Talked with a nice gal that seemed very informative until I brought up what my old caseworker said about getting a divorce to help boost my eligibility....of course, that got her shaky and she claimed to not know anything about such a thing. That's what I thought.
I was hoping to find out that the system had perhaps changed some criteria over the past 2 years. It looks doubtful. She offered to send me another application that I can fill out from the privacy and comfort of my own home and just mail in to my local office. Fine. Mail it. I will fill it out and send it back. Not that I am hoping for any spectacular response....but at least I will have tried again. I need medical coverage.....I need Medicaid.....so what the heck.
So - we shall see. I am just willing to bet my little FarmVille that not a damn thing has changed - which if you review the Ohio Medicaid website linked above, you will discover that too. If only I was a refugee or an alien.....then they would do something. What a crock that a U.S. citizen between the ages of 19 and 65 - with no children at home, not pregnant and with no pathology report for a disability approval - just has to sit and let the cancer spread....in pain....with no means of relief. Yeah - what a great country....what a great system.