WCGreen
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:27 AM
Original message |
Why I am personally at risk now that HCR has been placed in what only can be called Jeopardy |
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Right now, as I write this, I am going over all the information I can about getting a double lung transplant. I have an all day appointment at the Cleveland Clinic to de re-evaluated for the transplant program coming up in alittle over a month.
That's where things are now.
A little background. Back in late 2000, after seeing my health deteriorate significantly due to what the doctor called severe asthma, I was diagnosed with a now rare disease called Bronchectisis. It's literally a deterioration of the lung caused by an untreated lung infection I had decades ago. Smoking hard for ten years didn't help much and being in a fire in which I ended up in the hospital with smoke inhalation issues just complicates the issue even more.
I just turned 52 a few months back.
As soon as I applied for SSI, I was granted. No questions asked. My doctor doted all the i's and crossed all the right t's so that by the middle of 2002, I received a lump sum payment from social security.
In 2004, I had a severe infection that developed into ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and was in the hospital for over a month. The good news was I missed all the fawning over Ronnie when he kicked it in early summer of '04. The bad news was I did a whole lot of damage to my already at risk lungs and was first tested to see if I would qualify for a lung transplant. I was on the list but I was able to regain some of the lost lung function in order to be taken of the list.
I do a few tax returns to bring in some money but mostly I can't work for any schedule since I am chronically ill, tired all the time and susceptible to nasty lung infections. A few of you might remember that I was in the hospital back in late October and early November. That trip caused my pulmonary guy to suggest I get reevaluated.
Now remember, I have not worked for more than eight years now, just hanging on to clients who are cool with me breaking appointments now and then.
So now I find out that I might be better off in the long run if I was to jump over to medicare as my primary insurance as they would pay a lot of the anti-rejection meds that will set me back about $4k a month.
This is because it seems to me that Medicare won't pay for the drugs unless they pay for the transplant.
Well here is where the story takes a weird turn. Since I am only 52, I will only be eligible for Medicare and SSI for three years after my transplant. So I would be going back into the work force at say age 57 or 58 with a very large pre existing condition looming over me like a do not hire this man sign.
So I am damned if I do and damned if I don't.
I just might be better off waiting for a while to get on the list so that I can really check out the options.
Any way, I was hoping that HCR would kind of close these kind of things down and allow me to ease back into the workforce. I think that is all just about out the window now that Cosmo boy had been elected to the Senate.
I really hope they at least change the rules about pre-existing conditions and lift the life time caps. But I doubt if that will happen now.
Here is the rub. It might be better for me to get a divorce and go with medicare as my primary.
Well, there you have it, a long screed that just throws out a lot of stuff that is at least tangentially connected to HCR. I at least have a few options on the table. That's more than I can say for a whole lot of people in this county.
But hey, the Death Panels and Obamacare scared enough people that I think so now there are bound to be a whole lot more people in my situation.
Nothing left to say but peace out.
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Political Heretic
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:40 AM
Response to Original message |
1. I hate to break it to you, but you'd remain at risk WITH Senate legislation |
WCGreen
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:45 AM
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2. Really sad especially in a supposedly advanced country that still |
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views "free-enterprise" as some kind of method of organizing an economy from god.
I should be okay but what does that say about the pro-family GOP that because of their lack of compassion that there will be a whole lot of people getting divorced just so they can qualify for Medicare...
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crazyjoe
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:45 AM
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3. there were no benifits to hcr for 3 years, I would think |
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if you need 2 new lungs you would have known that. strange....
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WCGreen
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:48 AM
Response to Reply #3 |
6. Well duh, I've know about this for years.... |
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Edited on Wed Jan-20-10 07:55 AM by WCGreen
I was hoping that HCR would at least address some of the stuff.
Besides that, until this last illness I was holding my own.
on edit.
Sorry, I thought you were talking about the three year medicare eligability after a transplant.
Sometimes I read faster than my brain can comprehend...
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REP
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:46 AM
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4. ? Didn't you qualify for SSDisability ? |
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SSDisability "comes with" Medicare. I have supplemental insurance as well; I've got FSGS and I'm B-, so I try to be ready for the worst...
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WCGreen
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:46 AM
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5. i have all that but because myu wife works, I have to take her insurance |
proud2BlibKansan
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:48 AM
Response to Original message |
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:hug:
I tried. A lot of us tried. Wish I knew what to say.
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WCGreen
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Wed Jan-20-10 07:49 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
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Like I said, I will get by someway or another.
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Ninga
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Wed Jan-20-10 08:01 AM
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9. Hey, WC your story resonates with me on every level. I hope the CCF |
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Docs are able to superglue you back together.
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Vinca
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Wed Jan-20-10 08:04 AM
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10. What a mess we're in. Since the last presidential election season |
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started, I've been counting the days until we might get health care. I remember telling my doctor about a year ago that maybe by July I would be able to get my hip replaced. Now summer has turned into fall and has turned into winter and I'm barely able to walk. And you're obviously in a much worse place. I don't know what to do at this point with 4 years to go to Medicare. I refuse to divorce for the purpose of impoverishing myself. Sometimes I truly hate this country.
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CaliforniaPeggy
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Wed Jan-20-10 11:47 AM
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11. Your story really brings the whole mess home... |
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I'm hoping for a better outcome for you, and for all who suffer at the hands of these fools...
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roguevalley
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Thu Jan-21-10 03:42 AM
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Thu May 09th 2024, 05:45 PM
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