new (04-16) update on gigantic primitive

[The Village Idiot]

3000 ft efficiency..... 30000 square foot apartments...

geez Frank.... thats some huge housing!

[USA4ME]

Systematic Chaos

Of course, this also means that my insurance will be gone come the end of May (COBRA my ass), so I'm now scrambling to apply for Medicaid.

I'm still trying to figure this one out.  COBRA was set up as a way for people with limited income and assets to protect them and their spouse via an irrevocable trust in order for them to qualify for Medicaid.  My best guess is that his current issurance is paying for custodial care that Medicaid won't cover, so now he's going to have to ante in some of his own money for non-medical related expenses.  You know, the rest of us should be paying for someone to come in and clean his house and all. 

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[The Village Idiot]

Normally I would feel sorry for someone in his condition but he such a...a... er... whats the word?? ---- that I can't help but laugh at his general direction.

[franksolich]

Normally I would feel sorry for someone in his condition but he such a...a... er... whats the word?? ---- that I can't help but laugh at his general direction.

My beef with the gigantic primitive isn't that he's a fat slob.

My beef with the gigantic primitive is that he's always so rudely ungrateful.

[The Village Idiot]

right. Thats gotta be it. But words can barely describe his bad attitude.

[franksolich]

Oh my.

More now.

Systematic Chaos  (1000+ posts)      Fri Apr-17-09 03:16 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
6. Thank you, as always, for your kind and thoughtful response.

I've cooled way down since yesterday. It's really not like me to fly off the handle like that, and I'm glad that those times when I do I generally return to a more level state of mind fairly quickly.

I think in some ways Jeanette's being laid off is a blessing. Making the switch to Medicaid might allow me better treatment than what I've been getting from my private insurance. I've heard this time and time again from people who seem to know what they're talking about, so hopefully it will be true in my case as well.

Jeanette isn't very happy with her job anyway, so I'm hoping and praying that she'll be able to find something she likes after this. Her dream is to have a job working around animals, even if it's just to go around and clean cages all day. In a perfect world, I'd have sent her to veterinarian school years ago, but any compromise which will make her truly happy with her work would make me equally happy at this point.

I dunno.

I suspect the gigantic primitive's in for a rude shock, when he discovers the difference between "free" medical care and his private insuror.

It's going to be a big shock.

Another interesting thing going on here; please notice the gigantic primitive's more concerned about his wife working and making money, than he himself getting up off the couch and doing something for her.

Damn.

[RobJohnson]

The gigantic primitive can't "doctor shop" under Medicaid, can he?


Anybody know?

Yes, he will be able to doctor shop. In fact, even more then people with "paid" health insurance that are often times forced to pick a primary care doctor and stick with them



Also, he's not likely to get all the fancy pharmaceuticals he's been getting, right?

Anybody know?

It will be even eaiser for him now Frank.

But his story has more holes in it then swiss cheese. If he was already getting disability checks, most likely his primary coverage was not under his working wife's plan...it would be more likely to be under a Medicare Advantage plan, with Medicaid Part D supplementation picking up the co-payments of the first plan.

[The Village Idiot]

But his story has more holes in it then swiss cheese. If he was already getting disability checks, most likely his primary coverage was not under his working wife's plan...it would be more likely to be under a Medicare Advantage plan, with Medicaid Part D supplementation picking up the co-payments of the first plan.

A few years ago there were hospitals out there that went on strike because of Medicare and Medicaid not paying enough, I think many doctors stopped accepting it.

[RobJohnson]

A few years ago there were hospitals out there that went on strike because of Medicare and Medicaid not paying enough, I think many doctors stopped accepting it.

That won't be a problem in Vegas. As many lose health care benefits due to high unemployment, doctors welcome Medicaid paitents with open arms.

But, you are also correct. Nationwide, there has been alot of problems due to reimbursment rates, and the amount of time it takes doctors, nursing homes and pharmacies to collect from the state.

[happy1ga]

I took the Fentanyl patches for a while. The doses he is talking about are huge. I quit taking them because they tend to leech out. If you take a hot shower, or are even in the sun too long, you can get hit with a huge dumping of drugs in your blood stream. I didn't find them as effective as Morphine, myself, but some people do. I also think they are way too dangerous. As for his sudden stoppage, I find it hard to believe the doctor knows this. It is extremely dangerous to go "cold turkey" on high doses of pain meds. It can cause you to have a heart attack, stroke, etc. If he told the doctor, they would have helped him to have something to take or use in the meantime. As for doctor-shopping, it is much harder than it used to be, but I still see people pulling it off at my pain specialists office. You can also get some pain drugs via the internet, out of Mexico, but it is illegal, and there are zero guarantees they will actually make it to you. The easiest thing for him to do, is have the doctor switch him over to Methadone, which will take care of his pain, and is actually fairly cheap. He should be able to get sufficient relief for under 30 bucks a month. When he got approved for Disability, he automatically qualified for Medicaid. There are clinics that take Medicaid/Medicare everywhere, including pain clinics. This is yet another one of his pity-party posts, who badly he is treated, la la la. What a depressing human he must be to be around!

[franksolich]

Oh my.

The gigantic primitive continues to keep us informed:

Systematic Chaos  (1000+ posts)      Tue Apr-21-09 10:17 PM
Response to Original message
 
8. Well here I am still. Life goes on.

I think the lack of Fentanyl really was turning me into an animal last week. I haven't been anywhere near as upset since I've been back on it, and at least during the day my pain level is back to something I can handle.

What sucks, though, is that when I'm sleeping the only way I can lay in bed is flat on my back, because I can't bend my arm (either arm) in the right position to fold it up under my head and lay on either side. Can't lay on my stomach for the same reason.

So after laying almost perfectly still for several hours I inevitably get up with my arms and neck completely paralyzed from pain. It takes, on the average morning or if I wake up needing to go to the bathroom, about 3-5 minutes to work out enough of the pain from my joints to even get up.

I don't know what to do to stop it, but I'm thinking about some kind of very light heating pad with a built in massage feature to keep everything from locking up.

I got my Medicaid application in the mail and I'm going to be filling it out and sending it off to a local office soon. Hopefully that will work out also, because even with the new COBRA subsidies the bottom line is that a) United Healthcare insurance ****ing sucks and, b) I don't see how we can afford 1/3 of the COBRA payment given how much I still have to pay in co-pays and stuff not covered by UHC. So, we'll see.

On the bright side, I've been getting more movement and exercise in, and I'm committed to maintaining or even increasing the amount I do, as long as I don't end up hurting myself.

Hmmm.

One suspects the gigantic primitive considers a bowel movement "exercise."

[jtyangel]

Oh my.

The gigantic primitive continues to keep us informed:

Hmmm.

One suspects the gigantic primitive considers a bowel movement "exercise."

Even if he does 'hurt' himself? Sounds like he's got an excuse at the ready if he even has a little twinge of pain. I hate to tell him, but if he's been overweight for a long time, exercising will hurt. Even when you are in better shape, you can get some minor injuries that require you to take down your intensity, but not stop altogether. Sounds like he's already set himself up to fail at this monumental task from the outset.

[USA4ME]

Systematic Chaos

I got my Medicaid application in the mail and I'm going to be filling it out and sending it off to a local office soon. Hopefully that will work out also, because even with the new COBRA subsidies the bottom line is that a) United Healthcare insurance ******* sucks and, b) I don't see how we can afford 1/3 of the COBRA payment given how much I still have to pay in co-pays and stuff not covered by UHC. So, we'll see.

Something tells me he really doesn't understand how this works.  For the last 15 years, within COBRA (OBRA '93) is the law that states have to implement "estate recovery."

A person has two estates when he dies, probate and taxable.  Medicaid already had the right to place a lein on the probated estate of an individual who receives benefits.  It wasn't worth a lot since Medicaid beneficiaries couldn't hold significant assets.  A taxable estate is different.  If a person had the use of assets, even if he had given them away, they are brought back into the estate for tax purposes at death.

I said that to point out that with Medicaid, they're aren't going to approve him until his own assets reaches a certain poverty level.  And then even after that, they're going to recover all they can after his death.  Medicaid doesn't mean you get to keep your money and lifestyle (however limitied it may be) while getting the gov't to pay your way, which sounds like what he wants.

.