We had our own small construction company for 8 years when our nations housing industry collapsed. We were in the process of finishing a large spec house (built to our specifications to sell) at that time. We lost that spec house, our own home, one of two vehicles, most of our personal belongings of any value then last our travel trailer, leaving us with no home at all.
We are not the only ones that this has happened to, it is a nation wide problem. One thing that set us apart from so many others that lost everything, is our medical needs.
For my wife and I, our prescriptions costs alone came to nearly $2,400.00 a month. (One of my wife's medications was nearly $1,200 a month) We never gave much thought to the cost of our medications because we had insurance that paid almost all of those costs. We have since, found generic medications and through shopping around brought those costs down to around $1,500.00 a month.
The cost of our medications were more than we could afford. We sold everything of any value to purchase much need medications, but that resource was soon depleted also. So for nearly 2 years I went without needed medical procedures and medications (which has caused my condition to deteriorate).
Just after the first of the year I went to the emergency room at OHSU, the doctors got me my medications (thank you OHSU).
Because of our financial situation we sought help from all the sources we could find, this was a futile attempt with the exception of three organizations that were willing to help on a single occasion. Those three organizations deserve recognition for their willingness to help those in need. They are:
*Access in Salem Oregon
*West Minster Presbyterian Church in Salem Oregon
*Saint Vincent de Paul Community outreach program in Medford Oregon.
We applied for OHP (Oregon Health Plan) but were put on a waiting list, referred to as a lottery list... if your name is drawn you get OHP. However, they are still willing to hand out assistance to every pregnant woman irregardless of her income, and to those men who impregnated them.
My daughters boyfriend received assistance just because he wasn't working and was the father of the expectant baby. Not only did he get OHP, but also received food stamps and money assistance for gas in his search for work (and you know how that goes)... a young man with no medical conditions, and yet we could not get assistance (we did get food stamps).
Yet another thing that makes no sense to me with OHP is, they are continually advertising for more people to apply to the program when they cannot help those that have already applied for assistance. They pay for advertising on the radio...why??? Take care of the one that have already come to you, before seeking out others!
The one good thing about our plight is the awareness we now have for those in need. We have talked to so many people who are going without medical treatment and/or medications because of the lack of help. In many of these cases, they cannot function to the degree to maintain a job, thus they become (like us)...homeless!! Feeling like a burden to society with no way out!!
With no help from the state or any other organization that we contacted, (after nearly a year of searching) we were able to find an organization that helped with several of our medications... it is called Partnership for Prescription Assistance. This organization did not cover all of our medications, however all of the medications that they did cover were either free or at a very minimal cost (the most was a $10.00 co-pay). We learned of this program from our daughter who heard of it on Montel Williams.
To top off all of this, came our inability to get a job. This was partly due to the credit checks that were allowed for employment (and still are in some cases). As if your credit has some effect on your ability to perform on the job. Partly due to these credit checks I went without work for approximately two years. We even tried to explain to those we applied with why our credit was no longer good and asked them to check our credit prior to the housing crash, but to no avail... they did/do not care.
We finally did get OHP, but 2 weeks after we received our OHP medical cards we were informed that our term had expired. Upon investigation from my wife, we learned that it was a glitch in their system and that we had been covered for 6 months... but to bad!
My wife found someone at the OHP office that did care enough, after a lot of pleading, our case worker gave us 3 more months of coverage. This allowed my wife and I to get much needed medical care and our medications for 3 more months.
I finally did go back to work 7/2010 in the construction field. That is the reason our OHP was cancelled the first time; I make to much money to receive assistance (OHP and food stamps). I make close to $2,000.00 a month, but after you take out rent (our motel room of nearly a year), and only part of my wife's prescription costs (we cannot afford all of her prescriptions either), we have nothing left to pay for my prescriptions or food (we visit food banks often). All of that is irrelevant, it is all about how much money I make per month.
For a country that is so advanced in the medical field it is a real shame that so many people have to go without, especially when our government has caused this mess (the collapse of the economy), then in an attempt to fix it they are willing to dump trillions of dollars into the laps of the wealthy with total disregard for those that have lost everything and cannot afford to receive the medical attention or medications they need to survive, or at least to be a viable citizen of the community.
There are so many homeless people out there who are homeless because of the inability to work due to the lack of their medications and medical care.
Stay tuned.
Please let us hear from you...especially if you have gone through this or know someone who has or is going through it!! I would love to read your comments!!
