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What Happened To David
Hepatocellular Carcinoma, which is cancer of the liver, is normally caused by Hepatitis B or C, long term chemical exposure or shows up in people with cirrhosis of the liver, after decades of alcohol abuse - David has never had any of these aliments - His cancer has also metastasized or spread through his abdomen area. This is unusual for liver cancer but not for the Fibrolamellar variety - David's cancer has not affected any other organs that we have been able to see in the many CT and MRI scans that he has had -
Finding Out There's No Insurance
SHOCK VALUE - We did not find out my son was dropped from my Insurance until I contacted my Benefits people on or about October 29, 2003 - This was after my son was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital by ambulance - We had just talk with his Dr. and found out that David appears to have some sort of abdominal cancer and will need to have an MRI and biopsy done - I had called my Benefits people to find out "How to Proceed" - Who do I need to notify, I'm in Tallahassee, do I need to transport him back Melbourne, do I need a referral to a local Oncologist, and so on - We had a lot of questions about what to do - Mind you that I am standing on the 7th floor of the hospital (the cancer ward) and all they could say was they were sorry, but he's not covered and has not been since March - After I calmed down this is how it was explained: -
I was told that Benefits, at (My Company Name Here), removed David because I did not respond to an email that was sent to a list of employee's with collage age children - The email asked if your son or daughter is still in school please provide transcripts showing this - This mail was not directed specifically to me, by someone I know, and would have been filtered as SPAM along with a 100 other emails I receive every day - Benefits has told me that they received a return receipt which told them I received the email - Did this email contain a signature box, that I needed to check saying I am acknowledging my child's status change? NO - Did I receive a phone call or voice mail about this? NO - Did I receive anything in writing (on paper like the year before), stating that if I do not reply this removal was going to happen? NO - The only written information I received was by mail, and was a COBRA solicitation, sent to my home, several months after (from some other company) - They wanting to know if I needed this type of insurance - Why would I need COBRA, I have United Health Care for my Family - The COBRA paper work that Benefits says I should have received, sent out to notify us of David's removal, and in-turn listing David's options, was addressed to (David Bibey and Qualifying Dependents) and was forwarded by the Post Office to his Tallahassee address - I am not aware of my son ever working for (My Company Name Here)Corporation - We found this mail (unopened) when we moved my son back to Melbourne, (it was not someone he owed money to, so it was bagged - We were surprised he still had it) - We have not received any notification from United Health Care (my heath care manager) about any changes or David no longer being covered - Only the rejections that started to come in after David was taken to the Hospital in Tallahassee -
At the time of his removal, David was a full time student at Tallahassee Community Collage and graduated with his AA degree in May of 2003 - He was dropped in March 2003 and this was not discovered until the end of October - I truly felt that the doors closed as soon as cancer was mentioned - (My Company Name Here) is self insured -
I have been with (My Company Name Here) for 20 years and would like to know why this modification to my benefits was completed without my signature - It seems to me something as important as removing medical coverage for a family member, covered by a family Insurance plan, would take more than a failure to respond to an email - I have also wondered about the others that were listed in the same email as I was - Did everyone respond or is there another unsuspecting parent that believes his child is covered under his/her plan that is not -
What We Had To Do
The first thing we needed to do was get David into the system - The next Monday after we returned to Melbourne (from Tallahassee) the race began - I took David to the Social Security office in Melbourne - We waited about 2 hours before our number was called and we finally got to talk to a person - This was the start of a long (hurry up and wait process) that I feel we need to share with others looking for this type of information - As we sat down at the Social Security office window, we were asked about 10 questions that were put into the computer under David's Social Security Number - Questions like "When did you become disabled?" and "Where are you currently living" - There was nothing hard about what was asked of David - These questions did nothing but get David into the SYSTEM and the ball rolling - After the 10 questions were asked and answered we received a 10 page form and interview date for December 1st - This was 30 days away and just a phone interview to go over the form I had in my hand - WHAT!!! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING!!! SORRY, I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG, my son can't wait that long, we need help now, not a month from now - I guess my reaction was that of a typical irate parent about this lovely system of ours, because it had no effect (at all) on the person we were talking too -
The next thing that had to happen was David being put into the Medicaid System via Child and Family Services - Social Security is Federal, Child and Family Services is handled via the State of Florida - Medicaid is state run - Child and Family Services uses the same form as Social Security, moves much faster through it's investigation process than Social Security, but exchanges no information with them and waits to see what Social Security finds and decides - That right, they wait for the judgment made by Social Security and they abide by there findings weather they agree with them or not - We won't even talk about the appeals process if your application is rejected for any reason (because that did not happen in David's case) -
So now we wait, the paperwork has been filled out and now we wait - And we wait some more - The interview with Social Security, like I said, was just an interview (a 1.5 hour phone interview) - After that interview, a whole bunch of paper work has to be filled out - Dr. release forms mostly - You get these in the mail - We filled them out, had David sign them that night, and Heidi took them back to the Social Security office the next day - We hope it helped quicken the process a little -
- We Get Help Speeding Up The Process
What Is "A Cancer Aid Program"
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