Oy
Loads has happened since my last entry. Mark dropped calc 3, we went out to LA, returned, Liam can sit up by himself, we bought a crib and Liam has had his first successful nap in it, my parents visited and I have finally managed to get Liam a pediatrician.
That last one? A nightmare.
I've worked with children, teens and adults from low-income households. It's exhausting work. Some of them have got attitudes on them as big as the day is long.
I now count myself among them. The treatment I have received is totally, completely unnecessary. A pharmacist lost my Medicaid ID card (for all three of us), shrugged and said, "well, don't you just get a new one each month?"
Momentarily, I wanted to do her bodily harm. Hi - that's all of our access to medical, gone.
I called pediatricians who were listed as taking our insurance (because Medicaid farms us out to other providers). Each one asked, "what insurance do you have?" I replied, and the immediate answer, "No."
Wow. So, like, you'll take other kids, but not mine. Ouch. Finally, I was told to call the Children's Hospital line and get an appointment at one of their clinics.
So, my next question is how do I go about this process for my own doctor? It seems to me none of the doctors listed as taking my insurance actually will, but I have to find some low-end clinic that warehouses us lowlifes so that, you know, no one else has to acknowledge our existence.
Haha. And presidential candidates are talking about health care for all? How ironic.
It's exhausting, stressful, and demeaning.
It feels slightly wrong, too, knowing that if I could tear myself away from Liam, I am totally qualified to be on the other end of the phone, giving half-information to families in need. But then, part of me thinks, "no, darn it, I'm a mother, and every mother deserves to receive the assistance I'm seeking. Mothering IS my job."
Comments
damn straight.
but, uhm, i'm not sure i really get what's happening to you. why will they not take Liam? why do they say no to you when they should be saying yes (according to their taking your insurance). did you get your medicaid card back? how did she lose it?
i'm SORRY that you're living through this. it sounds ghastly.
but i still love you and am glad to read this update on your life.
love love
leila
Posted by: leila | October 15, 2007 10:22 PM
And now you can understand where those attitudes come from. Anyone treated like this will develop a confrontational, combative attitude. It feels like the only way to be seen, heard, given the benefits the state has said you were entitled to.
Posted by: Ma | October 16, 2007 12:07 AM
What it sounds like to me is that you are in need of a social worker, someone who is familiar with the system and has a lot of information readily accessible. Sorry I can't be down there for you.
Posted by: Mendon | October 16, 2007 2:15 AM
Leila, they won't take Liam because they don't want to have to deal with the bureaucracy of Medicaid (can't say I blame them).
Maman, yes, that's what I'm saying - I'm one of them now, and I understand why.
Mensch, just getting a freakin' case worker has taken me 2 months of haranguing the Department of Jobs and Family Services! Argh!
Posted by: Mara | October 16, 2007 4:19 PM
And, it also assumes that the case worker has the best interest of the client topmost on the priority list. The top priority of county case workers is to get people off the dole. Period. Any which way.
Posted by: ma | October 16, 2007 5:15 PM
mara, did you put a swear word in the middle of "harangue" or is that just a coincidence of a computer spasm?
Posted by: leila | October 16, 2007 7:35 PM
And mothering may be your love, your passion, your profession, but the pay stinks! That, and a $1.59 will get you a cup of coffee. And no, not every mother deserves to receive the assistance you are seeking. The expectation is that you made a conscious, adult choice to bring a baby into this world, now take on the adult responsibilities of providing for it. Just being a mother, in and of itself, does not entitle you to assistance. You receive assistance because you need it and our society has chosen, grudgingly, to assist the needy.
Sorry to be so harsh, but that is the reality.
Posted by: Ma | October 16, 2007 8:13 PM
What I'm saying, Mother, is that I believe every mother DESERVES to be provided for, considering the extreme work that she is doing. In a perfect world, a society would recognize that. (IMHO)
Posted by: Mara | October 16, 2007 9:11 PM
I didn't say that I preferred it that way. I'm not talking about what should be, but what is. Sorry, a legacy from my mother.
Posted by: ma | October 17, 2007 12:13 AM
So... what does it mean that Mark dropped calc 3? was the class load too much and he'll take it later or . . .? ?
Posted by: R.T. Bean | October 21, 2007 2:29 AM