This is topic BentTree news in forum Grist for the Mill at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/writers/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000018

Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
 
I talked to Scott on IM last night. He has been in the hospital since Thursday, they have been kind enough to let him use his laptop.
Scott has a pancreas problem. He is there to drain all the poisons from it. They want him to see a specialist but he can't because he can't pay the mounting medical bills he has now. He hopes to get home in a couple of days.
For those that don't know, Scott and his wife are in their twenties and have three small cute children. Scott has been unable to work for awhile (a year or so). His lovely wife (whom I have met once) is the lone bread winner.
Despite poor Scotts dire straits, he has been unsuccessful to obtain any kind of insurance at all. He has been denied four times to get medicare assistance.
For our overseas friends, even if Scott suddenly got private coverage it wouldn't take care of his finacial situation. New coverage won't pay for an existing condition. Scott's pancreas is his albatross to carry.
If I had 10 percent of J K Rolling success I could fix his problem easily. I am not asking for donations for him but if anyone has a solution that will help him in anyway by all means post it here.
Scott says he misses everyone but has little energy to write or correspond. I feel for him and that young family of his. If anyone could use good news its him.

[This message has been edited by snapper (edited August 26, 2008).]
 


Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
 
This is unconscionable. Unfortunately, I don't have much advice to give. I assume they've talked to a social worker. He's been denied Federal care, so I assume they've also applied for any state medical insurance. Also, I know here in CA we have medical insurance advocates who will advise you in a situation like this. Their advice is often free or offered on a sliding scale. I image there's an organization like that in Florida. He might be able to work something out with the hospital to write off a portion of their debt. This happened with my mom, twice, actually, since she didn't have medical insurance and wasn't eligible for Medicare or MediCal (state insurance).

Argh...
 


Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
 
Thanks for the update, snapper. That sucks. I wish I had the funds to help. There's no quick solution, either. Any agency that could help wouldn't be easy. Disability and State help sometimes denies an applicant a couple of times. Getting an attorney greatly expidites those matters. Many of them will take a percentage of the overall settlement (and will get them to cover medical bills retroactive). Sometimes, the fact the applicant is young can be detrimental to the case. (And getting a doctor to write out how disabled he is never hurts, wither.) Tell Scott I'll make some inquiries, that I wish him luck and he'll be in my prayers.
 
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
 
I am told writing your congressman helps more thanyou would think. One way we could all help is to write our own aand Scott's. Here is his congressman.

Congressman Allen Boyd
Florida 2nd district

Washington, DC Office
1227 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5235
(202) 225-5615 Fax

Tallahassee Office
1650 Summit Lake Drive
Suite 103
Tallahassee, FL 32317
(850) 561-3979
(850) 681-2902 Fax

Scott Dantzer lives in Crawfordville, Florida. If you want his entire address just send me an email and I'll forward it to you

 


Posted by Reagansgame (Member # 8149) on :
 
That is tough. We had something like that happen with our daughter, she was hospitalized and quarantined when she was five for what turned out to be Nicerian Meningitis... My husband had transfered and was only about 40 days into his new job, which had 90 days until insurance kicked in. The only coverage we had was for ICU, which was billed by the day and she was only in there a couple of hours a couple of different days.... We ended up with 170K of medical bills from that 3 weeks.

Long story shorter. There is a thing here called Ecumenical Ministries. I live on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, not too far from Talahassee, but not that close either... Maybe there is an organization there that is similar. The premis of this organization is to match up those in need with the more unknown of the services out there. You can also go through most churches. They know of services the state would not, privately operated and what not. Anyway, the place here does assistance with bills (like they pay your utilities) and they open up the food pantry and they can give the couple direction. My Dad and whole family have been involved with our local branch here, so while they are waiting on beuracrats and if any immediate relief is needed, they may want to look into this resource. Here's a link to the one here, they can refer the couple to a similar service there. http://www.baldwinemi.com/
 


Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
 
This eats at me to hear this. I wish I had the assets to help, but I can barely even make rent.

Maybe he could move to Canada. Or else maybe in the next 4 years we'll have guaranteed healthcare like every other industrialized nation.

I wish you the best, sincerely.
 


Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
 
I would love to help out.

i know you said no donations but that is all i can realy do. i my self have army health cair, it is good but can be better so i realy dont need to worry about insurance. how much money are we looking at anyway for a donation, $50.00, 75, 100, more?

i unlike my retarted battle buddus still have lots saved up after we got back, and i am not as greedy as one of my buddys who has $275000.00 but askes to brrow 3000 to go to OK. i would be glad to donate some money.

regards

RFW2nd
 


Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
 
I can send you his address, what you do with it is up to you.
I want to make this clear that Scott has not asked for donations and I am not sure how he would feel about receiving some.
However I'm sure every little bit can't hurt.

 
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
 
"It's hard to say no to a man in the army."
 
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
 
I dug up some links. Not sure if any of them will help, but they might be worth looking at:

http://covertheuninsured.org/stateguides/

http://www.healthywomen.org/uninsured/main.html
(it says for women but a lot of the general info is applicable)

http://www.myflorida.com/accessflorida/
(official state medical ins. site)

http://www.forfloridashealth.com/

http://www.cccsfl.org/default.asp
(free credit/ debt counseling)

Send me his address, please.
 


Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
 
Poor Scott. Tell him all our thoughts are with him. I'll check with my Mom who is pretty active in the medical community in FLA about things she might know about.

The medical bill issues is why the Bankruptcy Code was started. Even today the bast majority of personal debtors aren't there due to overspending but medical bills.

Even when insurance "covers" the illness the co-pays and the like can still be tens of thousands of dollars and the vast majority of people simply can't afford it.
 




Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2