The following is a letter to the editor of our local paper.
Government doesn’t call back
We are the old, sick, tired, ugly, handicapped, blind, deaf, slow, etc. and evidently a burden to society. We have done nothing wrong except to get old. The government wants to take away our Social Security, Medicare, retirement, house, etc.
We ask for help from different agencies, and it seems they do not have time for us. They can’t answer the phone when you call, but will get back to you. Well, my experience is that I never get a call back. I guess they are too busy.
So what are our options? We pray that God will take us away very soon, or can someone help us? I thank you for reading this letter. I wish you well and may God bless you.
I don't know this woman, however, for me, she has become the face of every American senior who has the need for help and can't get it thanks to the affects of the sequester on the programs she needs to remain independent.
I know her name, I'm not publishing it here. If I am correct about who she is, then she was one of 2 or 3 sisters who never married. All other members of her family have passed away. She has no one to turn to and apparently those she has sought help from have let her down.
She is the first of many more old or handicapped Americans who will be shoved into the ditch by the Republican Party in it's zeal to step on the least of us to benefit those who have the most. They do this in the name of their religion which has little to do with Jesus and much to do with money.
This woman's plight is the result of who we've become as a society. Go right on ignoring her since some point in the future she will become you.
Sherry, I agree - we are becoming a "throw away" society. Don't talk to me about being pro-life when you will not care for those who already are alive!
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't have the job I have I wouldn't know what the problem is for her. Due to the cuts created by the sequester many Medicaid HMOs are cutting hours of care or refusing to pay for the care if they determine the client can stand to do the dishes and get in and out of the tub on their own.
DeleteIn my county a number of case managers have quit. Right now I don't think there are more than 3 and due to the state Medicaid expansion they MUST reauthorize ever single current client the county has. Insurance companies are insisting on it. They don't seem to understand that what they pay for home care is a drop in the bucket compared to what they will have to pay for nursing home care.
I'm down to 16 hours a week right now. I need at least 20 to meet expenses. I may have to give up my internet and TV if Hubs business doesn't pick up soon.
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteI hope your letter to editor will get published.
It's not my letter, I copy/pasted it out of our local newspaper's editorial page.
DeleteIt's not a Sequester problem. The Sequester is nothing more that a slight of hand political football and an excuse to screw those least able to defend themselves. There is no way the government can't absorb a 2.5% decrease in funding and still provide services. Think about it.
ReplyDeleteIn NYS the feds do not fund these programs fully. 25% of it comes from the county we live in. Our county still is at 10% unemployment so providing the services to these people is a serious burden.
DeleteThis county's biggest employer is the Oneida tribe who do not pay any taxes at the moment. Second biggest is Walmart who do not pay their employees enough to keep them off Medicaid and SNAP.
Every one who calls the county OFA for assistance is being placed on a waiting list since nobody has any idea how much of the fed money they can make up without adding to the property tax burden of the residents.