Drug addict uncle receiving food stamps and Medicaid. . .UUUUGH!
Kind of long . .. . . . I apologize just need to vent.
I have a 12 year old son who is autistic with epilepsy and a heart defect. He was receiving medicaid through social security disability to help with his medications. He takes $3700.00 of medicine (retail) a month to control his seizures. My insurance plan at work has a large deductible to say the least and because he has to take brand name instead of generic it can cost more than the mortgage. Well when I began making 30,000 a year as a single mom of 2 they told me that my income was too high and that he was losing his benefits. I accepted it and thank God for my then fiance now husband because without him we never would have made it. On to the disgusting part. My Uncle (ex-con) is now out on parole. He receives food stamps and medicaid every month. On top of that he has tested positive for drugs 3 times since his release and now the state is paying for his second round of rehab. Why is it that a state will help him when the only thing wrong with him is that he is too high to work and will refuse to help me with my son's exorbitantly priced medication. I just want them to pay the $1685 in copay that I am required to cover. And by the way, without the medication my son has been known to have 4 or more grand mal seizures in a day. I have written to my local senator and encourage you all to do the same; no social services for people who test positive for illegal drug use. Just a thought.
That disgusts me that they'd give benefits to a ex con drug addict and not an autistic child with seizures! Good for you for writing your local senator, but I wonder how far that will take you.
My youngest is autistic and I've never tried for benefits for him b/c I already know we make too much money, which as you know yourself, is NOT too much money. Can you call the ASA or some organization that helps disabled or autistic children and see if there's another form of aid for him?
I hope something works out fof you and your son!
I'm sorry, I know he's your uncle and I'm sure you love him, so I'm not going to bad mouth him, just his bad choices. It's not right, and I know It's very frustrating. Drug use is self inflicted, which can, and does lead to addiction. It shouldn't be treated as a "disability." I don't have a problem with them assisting him with rehab, but if he just continues to go back to the same bad behavior, they should have just kept him in prison.
I'm ALL for random drug testing being required for people who apply for PA. If they've got money for drugs, they don't deserve food stamps, or Medicaid. Drugs aren't cheap!
I know, and I'm not saying all people who receive PA are bad people, most are in situations beyond their control and they need help to get back on their feet. However, examples like your uncle are why mandatory drug testing is necessary.
I know how you feel I have a son that has seizures also his medicine he takes every month is $500. Then we still have to buy him diastate (I'm sire you know what that is). Well that would be $1000 or more if it weren't frol medicaid. Like you the only reason why we have it is because of SSDI. His real dad is nowhere and doesn't pay anything and welfare jsut will not help with anything else. It is ruff.
That is so frustrating! I can't believe what people have to do to assure that they will receive the healthcare they need. It's like being punished for having a disease/disorder/accident...
I feel for you. I'm torn to an extent regarding drug and alcohol addiction being considered a genuine illness. On one hand, I understand just how difficult and painful getting off of drugs/alcohol can be. I understand that some people are predisposed to addiction and alcoholism.
The thing is: this information is NOT NEW. It's not like adults under the age of 45 haven't been exposed, from an early age, to the dangers of drugs and alcohol. We all learned by the time we were in middle school (in large part due to the crack epidemic of the early 80s) that all it took was ONE time to find oneself facing addiction. I remember sitting in health class and the local state trooper showing us vials of coke, heroin and crack and then showing us pictures of addicts!
My point is, is that IF you had alcoholism/drug addiction in your family and IF you had even the most basic knowledge of substance abuse (something that I think was mandated by Nancy's Reagan's Just Say No initiative in most public schoos), chances are you were aware of the risks of using those substances.
And that's where personal accountability comes in. Just by virtue of the fact that you've been given knowledge of the risk means you have assumed the responsibilty of an informed choice. Does that make sense?
Drug and alcohol addiction are beasts of issues that take a LOT of soul searching and work to overcome. However, I don't think they are remotely close to conditions like autism or seizure disorders or a myriad other diseases that occur at NO fault to the patient. There is no choice.
I'm 36 and many people I know use some substance or another. Most of them drink. And a few I would definitely call alcoholics. I, too, know someone who is has received the motherlode of benefits all for being a "recovered" crack addict. He has FIVE kids, he works full time UNDER the table, he lives with his mother (his wife left him) and receives full SS Disability, food stamps and is not required to pay more than $50 a month for child support (that's $10 per child). He still drinks like a fish.
Now I have multiple sclerosis. I worked full-time as a single mom until the day I went into the hospital. I had full benefits from my JOB. I put food on my table thanks to my paycheck. My car was paid for and I had a modest investment portfolio. I nearly lost everything, including my daughter, and would have had it NOT been for benefits like Social Security, Medicaid and Food Stamps. They kept me in my house, permitted me to get the treatment I needed for my MS, put food on my table and allowed me to get back on my feet (literally LOL). In my case, those benefits work as intended. I look at my situation and other's like yours OP and for the life of me, can NOT see any remote similarities between them and those of drug/alcohol addicts. In fact, I find it slightly insulting.
I really wish there was a seperate system for addicts. I really do. If they are committed to getting off their drug of choice, then they should be given the chance BUT there should be enormous oversight and accountability.
I recently lost a friend from complications with alcohol abuse. It wasn't a party thing for her, it was something she did alone, in her house, trying to forget things like the fact that her father put her in a car with himself and had a bad accident while HE was drunk, or the fact that he had died from his alcohol consumption on her birthday a few years ago. She spent the last year on disability after she came down with what they thought was guillane barre last year- it ended up being some kind of disorder connected to her drinking.
It's a disease. She bled to death, and her mother found her two days later. I think it's important for addicts to receive coverage- BUT- I do think there should be some requirements.
That said- I'm really sick and tired of hearing about people not able to receive coverage for their children with the issues your child has. That just makes me angry. We all need to band together and change this now, or it will just keep getting worse.
I agree with your idea! It is so ASS that the people who really need it are turned down-women with sick kids...and then there are men like your uncle that only "need" it to feed their habits and coast by. I never understood that concept.
I get public assistance for me and my kids, but I have several medical problems which makes my ability to work really limited.
I still say-you deserve public assistance way more than I do. prayers for you, Mama.
If the man is on some sort of disability, then that would explain why he is getting the medicaid and foodstamps. Also if he is on parole and has truly tested positive on three UA's, then he should have been sent back to prison, as that there is a violation of his parole. If not, the laws in the state he is residing in encourage this sort of behaviour.
Many of our "systems" need real reform, including the cost of prescriptions. $44,400 a year for medications is outrageous, especially when the taxpayers pay a portion of the research and development costs to these pharmecutical companies.
Unfortunately, until the nitwits in Washington get off the campaign trail and get out of the pockets of some corporations, there won't be any REAL REFORM.
My heart goes out to you and your family.
There's absolutely no question we need health-care reform. There shouldn't be any reason why anyone should have to go without medical treatment. I've heard a few doctors offer solutions by saying if they charged a flat rate, which was less than $80 a month, per person, it would be able to cover everything. From office visits to therapies, tests, x rays, CT scans, MRIs, and even surgeries. Yet the government insists on trying to push their flawed UHC on us, when they've already proven they can't even manage Medicare and Medicaid. They need to get out the way and allow people to come up with REAL solutions.
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on Feb. 8, 2010 at 8:41 AM