Editor’s note: Below are excerpts from a reader’s letter to the People’s Tribune about an article we published entitled,“How I got screwed out of my Medicaid.” In that article, Susan Sawsan Cain, says that we “need communities that will serve their needs, not a tyrannical corporate state that would be ecstatic if poor people just die and relieve the wealthy of this ‘huge burden.’”
Same thing happened to my Mom and Dad recently. When my Dad was taken off of Medicaid and put on Medicare they looked at my parents’ income—they are both self-employed, but my Mom works at the restaurant that they own and they only gross around $16,000 or less a year. They cut my Mom’s benefits and they also cut my Dad’s. They put them on Medicare and my Dad has liver and kidney failure and has to get treatments around four to five times a week. Medicare doesn’t even cover the full cost of paracentesis. They expected my father to pay over $200 per treatment for his liver when my parents cannot afford almost $10,000 a year to pay for this necessary medical procedure. Now my parents are in debt medically and with $200 per treatment when you need that treatment four to five times for a month is costing them close to $12,000 a year which is now going to collection.
It is so heartbreaking for me to see my parents suffer like this. My parents didn’t ask to get sick. They only needed Medicaid to help with how bad things are medically for them and the government has failed them based on what they deem as poverty. Thank you so much for posting this.
— Elinor Ziel
PT reader responds to article about ‘How I got screwed out of my Medicaid’
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Stealing From The Poor.
Is it possible your mom and dad were “Wrongfully removed” from the part of the medicare rolls? This does happen, more than we think.my loved one lost her income and then her check 9 months last year.
You and the rest of the readers, tell me if it was Wrongfully or not. The Social Security Administration wrote her, that she made too much income based on the income of a 40 hour a week. The most she worked was what is also considered full-time 32, hours a week. often 24 hour a week. The amount the government figured was 8 hours at $12.00 and hour .
Did they mis-figure? Yes!!!!~! Did they intentionally do so. You tell me.
She was not given a “fair Hearing”. This is suppose to be a constitutional protection. I wrote US Senator Bennet form CO. to have the SSA ploy checked into. It happens to many others. The SSA blamed us for the bogus number.
Then about 4 months later they ripped off her medicare. We went 8 months without income where hungry, next to homeless, borrowed from Pay day loans, and friends, to pay rent. Despite her illness; and minus medication and oxygen She force herself to worked 40 hours most week. In May she applied for retirement. With out telling us, They took out the $5,000 something the SSA Magically found her over.
Then The SSA took out many hundreds of dollars in they said she should have paid in the cut off medicare. Over the amount as if she was getting services. But she got NO Services.
The SSA says they did everything Right! Even saying that she was over income, when she wasn’t. And “The Fair hearing was Unconstitutionally dismissed,” and paying back her $139. or so a MONTH ON, her discontinued Medicare . I think this is a scam done on the weakest of us. SSDI And retirement WRONGFULLY removed. And I expect, it happens more, since Trump took office. What do you think See if your parents were given a fair hearing before part of their Medicare was removed. Use logic if they were not. Get a hold of your two US Senators, and Representative, and send COLORADO Bennet a copy of your letter or email.