Bureaucracy

[johnboyjjb]

My sister in law has Downs syndrome which is a genetic disorder from conception to death. No avoiding it; no curing it. Every other year she gets sent to the state doctors to verify she is still handicapped. That is bureaucracy at its finest.
My brother, who is handicapped from a car accident, is blind in one eye and has no hope of recovering vision in that eye also gets called in every other year to get verified that he is still handicapped.

Worse, he requires shots of botulism in his arm that the state is happy to pay for but which no doctors in the state of Arizona are willing to do because the risk doesn\'t equal the cost.

My brother lives on welfare since we did some research. The more money he makes, the less he gets from the state. Doesn\'t seem like a bad idea right? Except for every dollar he earned he lost $4 in state support. A days work at minimum wage would earn him $40 - that is $11,000 a year minus Social Security and other taxes as well as his medical insurance. His income from the state for not working was over the poverty line - I beleive it was $22000 plus insurance.

 

[ScottRadom]

When I signed both my children up for insurance I had to do a verbal checklist for my entire family. Starting with me I got the standard questions

\"Are you a smoker?\"
\"How many alchoholic drinks do you have in a week?\"
\"Do you take marijuana?\"
\"Have you ever been treated for drug addiction?\"
\"Have you been diagnosed with AIDS?\"

Etc., etc., The we did the same questions for my boy Max, who had just turned three years old.

When they started with the questions about alcoholic drinks I said \"I know you\'ve got a job to do, but can we skip the questions that don\'t really pertain to a 3 yr old?\". \"Sure, no problem\". And then on they went asking about drug addiction treatment etc.

Now I know they\'re are some sick babies born addicted to drugs and stuff, so I cut them some slack. When they started asking if Max had been treated for depression I had to re-iterate that this was a three year old child.

Now I had to answer the same questions for my daughter. No, she doesn\'t smoke. No, she doesn\'t do smack. No, She hasn\'t been treated for depression. Yes, she has stayed overnight in the hospital in the last year. \"Hold on while I transfer you to my supervisor.\"

Supervisor takes the call, and I get to listen the the brief conversation of the first person telling the supervisopr that We\'re at item #whatever and the answer was positive.

Supervisor-\"Your daughter was in the hospital overnight, what was she beign treated for?\"

Me- \"She was born 6 days ago.\"

Supervisor- \"What was she being treated for?\"

Me- \"Uhm, she was born. She was being treated for being alive and stuff.

Supervisor- unapologetically \"Okay. In the last 12 months has she been in the hospital for anything else?\" I was appreciative of having been explained exactly what one year would qualify as.

Me- \"Listen. She was born healthy and wonderful 6 days ago. She hasn\'t been here long and has not been in the hospital for anything else. We just got home yesterday.\"

Supervisor- \"Okay, when I transfer you back, please just answer no to the question.\"

I got transferred back to a different person. I had to answer all the questions again because they didn\'t have my answers recorded (Someone didn\'t hit save maybe?) and I had to answer all the dumbass questions and it took a further 45 min\'s.

After it was over I wondered... if you\'re filling these questions out for someone else, are they even valid? Can I safely say that my son is not hyping heroin when I am not looking? Maybe my daughter IS snorting blow during commercial breaks of \"Little Einstein\'s\". Would the insurance company be able to sue me, or not pay the medical expenses if my duaghter had to go to detox for something?

 

[PegaZus]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
Would the insurance company be able to sue me, or not pay the medical expenses if my daughter had to go to detox for something?

You know, those Pixy Stix will ruin ya something fierce! lol Hope you\'ve got that Sugar Rush clause!