Dead Woman Insists She's Still Alive

[matcom]

<snip>

PORT RICHEY - Josephine Miskowitz got some bad news when she went to the Social Security office to find out why she didn't get her March benefit check.

"You're deceased," the worker explained.

"And I said, "Well, hello, look at me,"' said Miskowitz, 78. "And they said somebody must have pushed the wrong number."

That should have been the end of it. Miskowitz showed some ID and filled out a form stating she was "alive and well." In a March 3 memo, the Social Security Administration agreed:

"We have now determined that the fact of death is erroneous; that is, the beneficiary is alive."

But on Monday, as far as Miskowitz could tell, she was still officially dead.

Being dead is stressful.

She hasn't received her $992 monthly Social Security check for three months, forcing her to dig into her emergency funds. Social Security also stopped paying her HMO, which sent her family a letter of condolence that politely canceled her insurance, effective Feb. 28. The HMO has refused to pay for her emphysema medication as recently as Saturday, she said.

"It's a snowball that is growing so big," said Miskowitz, a widow who works part time distributing samples at a Publix supermarket. "I have a stack of papers that won't end with the promises they've made to me."

It could be worse. Miskowitz has only died once. In 1998, the Social Security Administration killed 64-year-old Rosie Nelson of Charleston, W. Va., three times in as many months. The blunder made international news.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/07/Pasco/_Dead__woman_insists_.shtml

[unsavedtrash]

1. but I don't want to go on the cart

[arwalden]

11. Oh, don't be such a baby!

[Spinzonner]

2. I think this is called Capitol Punishment

[babylonsister]

3. Being dead is stressful? And here I thought

it was supposed to be peaceful. ...sigh... More lies we've been fed, I tell ya, nothin' but lies!

[matcom]

4. i for one don't think i believe her

she seems suspicious to me :P

[Modem Butterfly]

5. On my partner's credit report...

...we found one creditor who had him listed as dead. Weird.

[punpirate]

7. Not at all weird...

... it's an easy write-off on taxes that the IRS would not be likely to back-check.

Cheers.

[BlueIris]

6. Trying to prove you're alive after someone's official error gets you

killed is one of the more difficult things to do in this universe. I feel so bad for victims of those mistakes. Honestly? I'd rather scale Mt. Everest than try to deal with a mess like that.

[Modem Butterfly]

9. A friend of mine had to prove to the DMV that he was male

He's 6', about 225, with a really deep voice, hairy arms and knuckles and other masculine features. No one would ever mistake him for female, even if he tried really hard. Yet when he applied for his license, they listed him as female, which would be funny enough, except he realized it when his car died and he went to buy another. I gave him a ride around to all the local car dealerships, he settled on one car, and gave the finance guys his license so they could pull his credit. We could hear them laughing in the next room, and I thought his credit might be screwed up. Turns out, his credit was fine, but his license was screwed up. What made them laugh was that it had been issued TWO YEARS PRIOR!

So after he bought the car, he went down to the DMV to correct it and was asked to prove he was male. He looked the DMV worker right in the eye and said, "Do you want me to go for the obvious move or can I just show you my birth certificate?"

[BlueIris]

10. I feel bad for your friend, but that is a funny story.

Holy shit. And I thought our DMV was bad. Well, my city's DMV is bad like Agent Smith from "The Matrix": not so bad, once you get to know it. But unless you make nice with its staff--watch out. They don't care if they screw up your life and they don't care how long it takes them to fix their mistakes.

[ghostsofgiants]

8. Bring out your dead!

"I'm not dead yet!"
"'Ere, he says he's not dead."
"Yes he is."