Dear SG, please advise CiscoKid

[JawZ]

CiscoKid recently posted this:

The people are hungery, tired, and sick! After suffering with untreated asthma since I aged out of my parents health insurance. I can see any doctor I want as long as I want to rack up thousands and thousands of dollars in medical bills because I have been unable to get a job with full medical benefits. On that same note, I would be paying more in asthma meds then I could be making each month.

Does anyone have a link to a copy of this bill? I'ved tried Google but all I've found is articles about the evils o the bill. Can I ask all of you that are dead set against universal health care, what about it bothers you? I've known MANY MANY people with carriers such as Kaiser and Blue Cross who have waited months for fairly seriouse medical tests, one of them being a cancer screening, that if not for making an end run around his insurance would have resulted in his death.

So I ask, what advice would you give him so that he could get the needed health care? What is CiscoKid currently doing wrong or not doing enough of?

[mnosteele52]

More information is needed. Why can't he find a job? If he had a decent job with decent healthcare then his meds would be paid for, right? Why doesn't he qualify for Medicaid or other government assistance right now? What about the free clinic, most every city has some type of free clinic. Almost every single state has some type of assistance, has he applied for what his state offers? Was he turned down? If so why.

[CiscoKid]

I'm a student. I was taking care of my dad from January 14th 2004 until he passed away October 9th 2009. The last regular job I had did not offer medical coverage for anyone working less then 3/4 time.

In order to qualify for anything I either need to quit school and have a few babies or become a crack head alcoholic. Neither choice I agree with!! I'm working on my BS in Systems Security.

The unemployment rate around here was over 15% the last time I checked. But hopefully my job search is over, just waiting for the call for my second interview! the first lasted two and a half hours

[CableDude]

But hopefully my job search is over, just waiting for the call for my second interview! the first lasted two and a half hours

Hope you land it.

[mnosteele52]

Well, you get a lot of respect from me for taking care of your father, unusual in this country. And good look on the job.

Don't most health insurance companies cover you on your parents plan if you are a full time student?

What about you cities free clinic?

[CiscoKid]

my dads plan included me as a full time student until I turned 22. The poor clinic is 30 bucks per visit but then I still need to pay full price for meds. My Advair script is 350 for a 30 day supply. The only thing I got for free was the STD panel when my ex took off and there was evidence she had cheated because of an awareness program.

[blebs]

my dads plan included me as a full time student until I turned 22. The poor clinic is 30 bucks per visit but then I still need to pay full price for meds. My Advair script is 350 for a 30 day supply. The only thing I got for free was the STD panel when my ex took off and there was evidence she had cheated because of an awareness program.

Dude check http://www.needymeds.com and fill out an application for each medication. You'll either get it free or at a substantially reduced cost. Before I became eligible for Medicare part D coverage, that's what I had to use and it saved me nearly $500 a month.

Case in point, Advair:

http://www.needymeds.org/drug_list.taf? ... r%20Diskus

Eligibility Guidelines and Notes:

The patient must have no prescription coverage for the requested medication and have an income at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level. Medical diagnosis necessary for this program is not specified. The patient must also be a US resident. Bridges to Access has new enrollment instructions. It's no longer required to enroll via an advocate unless the patient requires immediate access to their medicine. Applicants can enroll by mailing a completed application, a current prescription and income documentation. An advocate, however, must call to enroll Bridges to Access applicants who need immediate access to medicine (please see web page http://www.bridgestoaccess.com/ for further details about the two methods of enrollment). If the patient chooses not to enroll in Part D and is not eligible for the Low Income Subsidy Program, then s/he may eligible for this program. The application can be filled out and printed on the website, but each application need an individual number (which the website does automatically.)

This is only 1 of 5 possible programs for Advair Diskus.

[jeremyboycool]

CiscoKid recently posted this:




So I ask, what advice would you give him so that he could get the needed health care? What is CiscoKid currently doing wrong or not doing enough of?

"What is CiscoKid currently doing wrong or not doing enough of?"

Whatever happened to the question, "Is he doing something wrong and/or is he doing everything he can?"

Not to say either way but it is nevertheless a necessary question. We should not just be in the default position that the individual in question is necessarily doing something "wrong". And I do understand how temping it is to take that position, but if one wants a clear understanding then it is necessary to remove, as best you can, any preconceived notions.

[Sarahnn]

Cisco, first thing you can do is drop the negativity. We are not a society of monsters. No one in their right mind wants to see you suffer.

Try this out. I am curious to know what they would offer you and if it would be impractical for you.

http://www.health-insurance.org/request-health-quote

Oh, and good luck on the interview. And kudos for the care you gave your Dad.

[JC]

We all have problems, and we all probably have some hard luck stories. With that said, why does that entitle someone to someone else's labor or property.

[David]

We all have problems, and we all probably have some hard luck stories. With that said, why does that entitle someone to someone else's labor or property.

What would be your recommendation for Cisco?

[JC]

What would be your recommendation for Cisco?

Naturally I don't have the answer for everything or everyone. Why not do a full time job with benefits and go to school? Get two, three jobs..what ever you have to do. My wife for example, went to school full time and had a full time job. Was it tough....YES. Was it a pain in the ass...YES. People need to do what they need to do to take care of them selves.

[Blisster]

Why not do a full time job with benefits and go to school? Get two, three jobs..what ever you have to do.

lol, its so simple, he just needs to get a full time job with benefits!

wow, now that we've got that one figured out, what's next?

[JC]

lol, its so simple, he just needs to get a full time job with benefits!

wow, now that we've got that one figured out, what's next?

The key word appears once again "SIMPLE". I nor anyone else said it was easy or simple. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

[CiscoKid]

Naturally I don't have the answer for everything or everyone. Why not do a full time job with benefits and go to school? Get two, three jobs..what ever you have to do. My wife for example, went to school full time and had a full time job. Was it tough....YES. Was it a pain in the ass...YES. People need to do what they need to do to take care of them selves.

JC, it's not so simple in this area to just go out and get two jobs when most people can't even find one! they had a job fair for the arena here in town...thousands lined up to fill only a few hundred jobs. And like I've said previously, the jobs that are available barely pay enough to keep you hungery. Even working 40 hours a week at minimum wage is 1360 grose wages. private insurance is way more them anyone I know can afford!

[Mutch]

There could be cheaper alternatives for meds.

[Rivas]

Man, I feel for ya.
Everyone is so smart as long as they are healthy and covered.

In Canada (BC) we do pay $50 each month health care (prescriptions not covered) but once you hit limit $1500, pharmasave (government) will pay all the medications for ya.(as long as your income is above $14 000 if it's lower your dont pay healthcare, government will pay it for ya).

You can apply for extended benefits (in a case they are not offered at work) and enhanced benefits (not basic) are around $80 bucks a month (first year $500 dental, 2nd $1500, 3rd $2500 etc etc), physio, eyes, massages and all that is covered 100% + 100% coverage for prescriptions in hospital and also you have right to get your own private room in hospital as long as it doesn't exceeds $1500, the only disadvantage is they cover "only" %80 of the prescriptions from family doctor.

Every private insurance got different rules and EVERYONE is eligible no matter if you work/student/disability/etc.

BUT waiting period is 3-6 months for MRI (example) however if you feel really crappy your bloodwork is a mess you get it right a way ...umm not right a way, you have to wait 15-45 minutes.

Also there are long waiting periods for surgeries (not life threatening), but hey if you feel really so crappy go to private hospital.

They call our health care a mess ...umm is it a mess? I remember that medication you are talking about I was using 7 years ago and it was expansive, over $300 a bottle of spray , ended up paying fee $2.40

And there are no cheaper alternatives even if they switch you to generic drugs

Move over here, much better opportunities not just the health care

[CiscoKid]

Advair was the only one that really worked aside from the emergency inhaler, but you can't rely on that alone...the preventative meds worked so good I didn't need to worry about having attacks while drive because it was cold as hell outside when I jumped in the car

[Rivas]

I remember the Advair, Flovent and Salbutamol