After 40 years spent working, I developed serious medical problems. Because I put money into the social security system, I receive $1400 a month to live on from them, stripped down to $1308 to pay for medicare and medication. My cost of living I've managed to get down to $950 a month by cutting out everything but rent, phone, unilities and transportation. $684 gets spent on medical expenses and medication not covered by Medicare. Until now, the extra $326 has been coming out of savings but savings is almost gone.
Next month that $684 figure will jump to $1,238.00 because medication is only paid for up to a certain dollar amount.
State assistance programs claim I make too much money for their help. They don't account for medical bills in determining the poverty level. The poverty level is $60 less than my income.
State Medicaid says if I pay out of my pocket more than $4,000 in 6 months, they will help me from $4001 on until 6 months is reached. Then the process begins again. I have no idea where they expect that money to come from.
I'm being candid about this to show that medical reform isn't a "Democratic Bleeding Heart" issue. It's a human issue. If we refuse to take care of the people at home, how do we justify sending aid elsewhere? Starvation is starvation, whether it happens to a black woman in sub-sahara Africa or to a white woman in the state of Washington.
