Around Christmas time, the bills starting arriving. First, there were the medications to pay for. Then the ambulance bill, the ER bills, and the surgery bills started coming.
Several years ago, Ed's boss made the decision to stop providing health care. I am sure the reason was because it was too costly. He was a two-man operation, himself, and Ed. I have an individual policy on my family, and the monthly premiums are the equivalent of a car payment. A nice car. His boss continued to give him money towards a policy, but a policy he expected Ed to obtain himself. For whatever reason, Ed and Mama chose not to get a health care policy.
First, Mama had kidney problems a couple of years ago. She didn't go to the doctor like she should have. When she did go, she didn't follow up with him like she should have. There was no insurance, so she didn't get this taken care of. Now she is has only one functioning kidney.
Earlier this year, at age 70, Mama applied for Social Security Medicare, and thank God, was approved. Even though she was penalized by SS for applying late and they take a fee out each month from her SS check, it is livable and she now has health coverage.
This past fall, Mama was having chest pains and racing heart symptoms. She finally went to a doctor for tests and he scheduled a heart cath right away. She ended up having a stent put in. Thankfully, Medicare paid most of her hospital bills and she qualified for assistance for purchasing her medications.
Next, Ed was diagnosed with emphysema and brain cancer. He does not have health insurance. He is too young to qualify for Medicare. Trips by ambulance, time spent in ER's, and brain surgery are not cheap. The amounts of some of these bills are staggering. But the paramedics, doctors, nurses, nurses aids, techs, everyone...were so wonderful in getting Ed to the hospital, taking care of him, and making him comfortable, that you feel like every last penny is worth it, and you want to be sure every last bill is paid. But what do you do?
Well, you take all the bills, you put them in alphabetical order and in a notebook to make it easy to keep up with, and you start writing letters. You write people telling them thank you for their time, their efforts, and their understanding. You express how badly you want to pay them, but with no insurance and a limited income, you can't do much.
Ed was advised to file for disability. Even though he retired in July of 2008, he still worked here and there, as retired persons are able to do, for extra income. But now, he can't work at all. So he filed for disability. According to the rep at the Social Security office, due to the gravity of his illness, it is highly likely he will be approved for disability and it is probably that once it is approved, it will be retroactive back to his first seizure. What a blessing that news is!
Several years ago, Ed's boss made the decision to stop providing health care. I am sure the reason was because it was too costly. He was a two-man operation, himself, and Ed. I have an individual policy on my family, and the monthly premiums are the equivalent of a car payment. A nice car. His boss continued to give him money towards a policy, but a policy he expected Ed to obtain himself. For whatever reason, Ed and Mama chose not to get a health care policy.
First, Mama had kidney problems a couple of years ago. She didn't go to the doctor like she should have. When she did go, she didn't follow up with him like she should have. There was no insurance, so she didn't get this taken care of. Now she is has only one functioning kidney.
Earlier this year, at age 70, Mama applied for Social Security Medicare, and thank God, was approved. Even though she was penalized by SS for applying late and they take a fee out each month from her SS check, it is livable and she now has health coverage.
This past fall, Mama was having chest pains and racing heart symptoms. She finally went to a doctor for tests and he scheduled a heart cath right away. She ended up having a stent put in. Thankfully, Medicare paid most of her hospital bills and she qualified for assistance for purchasing her medications.
Next, Ed was diagnosed with emphysema and brain cancer. He does not have health insurance. He is too young to qualify for Medicare. Trips by ambulance, time spent in ER's, and brain surgery are not cheap. The amounts of some of these bills are staggering. But the paramedics, doctors, nurses, nurses aids, techs, everyone...were so wonderful in getting Ed to the hospital, taking care of him, and making him comfortable, that you feel like every last penny is worth it, and you want to be sure every last bill is paid. But what do you do?
Well, you take all the bills, you put them in alphabetical order and in a notebook to make it easy to keep up with, and you start writing letters. You write people telling them thank you for their time, their efforts, and their understanding. You express how badly you want to pay them, but with no insurance and a limited income, you can't do much.
Ed was advised to file for disability. Even though he retired in July of 2008, he still worked here and there, as retired persons are able to do, for extra income. But now, he can't work at all. So he filed for disability. According to the rep at the Social Security office, due to the gravity of his illness, it is highly likely he will be approved for disability and it is probably that once it is approved, it will be retroactive back to his first seizure. What a blessing that news is!
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