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Lockit -> One reason we need medical reform and better economy (10/9/2009 10:53:57 AM)
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I am putting this here in politics’ because this in part, is a result of no medical coverage.
I am coming here to ask that some of you help me with some thoughts on what can be done for a dominant friend of mine. Most the people I have worked with were in a different situation by the time I got to them or they had other resources to help them. I am no longer working on this on a daily basis and my brain just isn’t as clear as I need it to be to really be sure my advice is stable. I do know he is really out there trying to fight back and he is far more with it than most the people I ever worked with.
My friend is in his late fifties, lost his job a year ago when the company he worked for, for a couple decades was sold. He worked in a field that has been changed by technology and there are no longer jobs in this field with his experience. He got real sick and was hospitalized for a couple months, almost died and is now facing huge hospital bills. He was in a coma and his brother started trying to keep things together, but by the time he was able to do so, the social services said that it was past time for an application to cover his medical bills. This I have a hard time understanding as that isn’t how it used to work as they went back three months, but somehow they denied him and his appeal. He was in a coma! How could he apply for anything while in a coma? The social services said that if he sold his house they would take the money to pay back what they have paid in medical after his release from the hospital... I think.
So they will cover his future medical stuff, but not the hospital bills. His unemployment has run out. He has no income. He is now struggling to walk or not fall when walking, his lungs have not recovered and he is at risk if he is in public and gets a virus, but he is determined and trying to save himself and has applied for jobs… but with his age, condition and all, it could be real chancy to count on getting a job in this market.
His lakefront home is almost paid for, it was a family home that he bought when his father died and it means a lot to him. So I think he may be taking risks by trying to save it with all the facts, but most people do that and will wait too long trying to save it all and then lose it all. This is typical in many areas with many that I have worked with and they often wouldn’t listen because of this. I know how to advise him if he has nothing, but with the house I am not sure what he could do. He has checked into the reverse mortgage and he can’t do it because he is too young… I think that is what he said. He can’t get a loan on the house because he isn’t working and can’t get another type of loan because he isn’t working. He could rent the house but then wouldn’t be able to get into housing. He could get a roommate but knows no one who needs a place and won’t advertise at this moment because he isn’t sure what will happen here.
I think he could get some cash off a credit card of a couple thousand, but then there are things that could blow up in his face if he did that. I really don’t know what to tell him. I offered to help as I could in the situation as I knew things… but knowing more, I am at a loss as to what to do.
This is why so many are fighting for the medical reform… but this also brings in social security issues and the economy. You get sick or injured and you are in trouble. I know he isn’t the only one… but still I am asking for your help to advise us in area’s that are unfamiliar to us, as I know many of you know far more about some things than we do.
Thank you...
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