Ok call me crazy but I wrote the President Obama a letter. Let me know what yall think about it and feel free to share it if you agree! Dear President Obama, My name is Carla Rae McIntosh. I am a 35 year old single mother from Missouri and I am writing you to ask personally why I am having a hard time getting Medicaid. As of December 28th 2013, I have been at zero income due to the fact I was no longer eligible for unemployment. Under the guidelines in the state of Missouri I should have been eligible for medical coverage since I have minor children in the home and they receive MO Health. Although I turned my change of income in and filed for any help available until I could find work I still hadnt heard anything several weeks later. After contacting the automated system and finally speaking to a FSD representative I once again believed that I had completed all steps needed to receive the health coverage an temporary help I requested. I was assured by the rep that the application was in process and that I should hear from them shortly. I waited patiently and continued to seek new employment. After five weeks with no luck in the job search I finally decided I needed to visit my local FSD office to inquire as to why I had not yet received a reply to my request for help. I was told at that time that my application had been overlooked during a change in facilities due to work case overload. They apologized and I once again filled a new application to request help. On February 22nd 2014 I was in need of medical attention so I visited the emergency department of our local health care provider. I had taken an injury to my rib cage and needed X-rays to confirm my belief that the rib was broken. Upon discovering that the rib was in fact broken the doctor noticed a shadow beside my heart. She immediately ordered a CAT scan and confirmed that the cloud that she had seen in the X-ray was a 8 cm mass in my right lung. I was urged by the staff to immediately seek a primary physician so that I could be referred to a cancer oncologist. The problem with being uninsured is that its very difficult to find a primary physician willing to take on a new patient that cannot pay. I desperately called several local doctors in hopes that one would take me on and get me going in the direction I needed to be in for the sake of my health. After three weeks of waiting for a response I began to feel like I would sit here and die before a doctor would accept me with no health coverage. I was on the verge of hopelessness when a friend suggested that I drive three and half hours away from home to seek help from the physicians at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. My friend had told me that at Barnes they would not turn me away based on my inability to pay. I entered through the emergency room and the physicians at Barnes Hospital immediately ordered their own cat scans and tests to confirm that the mass was in fact Stage 3 none small cell lung cancer. I was then admitted and over the next several days underwent numerous test to determine the staging and severity of the cancer. I spoke with several doctors and eventually a plan of action was made and treatments where scheduled. It was decided that the mass was too large to remove and that I was to undergo chemo and radiation in an attempt to shrink the cancer down in size to where the surgeons were comfortable enough to operate. Although treatments are very rough I am grateful for them and for the wonderful staff at Barnes Jewish Hospital. They never made me feel less of a human due to my inability to pay. Mr. President I have been fighting for my life. I refuse to give up no matter how dim my future has seemed in the last few months. I refuse to let this cancer take me from my children as my mother and twin sister were taken by cancer from me at way too young of an age. I am a strong-willed very determined person but I am tired. I am at home now finished with my treatments and awaiting an operation where the tumor can hopefully be removed. Unable to work I have been living off donations since I started treatments and they have all but ran dry. My dear friends and family help when they can but times are tough and they often find themselves barely making ends meet. The loss of my ability to provide for me and my children often leaves me feeling like a burden on the ones I love the most. I keep thinking life shouldnt be this hard. I have worked since I was 16 years old. Only taking a few years off to be a stay-at-home mother when my children were small. I have depended on the government as little as possible in the raising of my children sometimes requiring me to work up to 75 hours a week. Like most contributing members to society I have paid my bills and my taxes on time and always prided myself as a type of woman who does her part. The reason for my letter Mr. Obama is that todays date is June 1, 2014. I reapplied for Medicaid and applied for disability on February 24, 2014. I have still to this date have not been approved for either. I have been out-of-pocket for every prescription medication since I fell ill. The cost for some of these life saving medications have been almost unattainable. The TANF I receive in the amount of $120 monthly does not provide enough funds to pay for my medications or any of the other numerous expenses that come along with fighting cancer and raising children. I have fallen ill in the last three days. I so desperately need an antibiotic to treat the bronchitis that has developed in my already painful inflamed lungs. I visited my local emergency room two days ago and was given a prescription I cannot afford to fill. Im laying here in severe pain and fear for my health over a $28 medication. $28 may not seem like much to some but when you cant provide for yourself it might as well be $1000. I try my very best to stay positive however its difficult at times when youre very ill and you feel like your government has pushed you to the side. At times like these the feelings of hopelessness are hard to shake off. I have always been a hard worker. I have carried my own weight and contributed with taxes to help those in need. Well now I am the one in need and it seems as there is no such help for me. Im having a hard time understanding how a woman can walk into a health center and after a positive pregnancy test can immediately walked out with a temporary Medicaid card. How can there be such a difference in the value of bringing a new life into this world opposed to saving one that is already here. I just cant understand why I have not been approved. I am not asking for handouts but only a helping hand in this time of need. Most people will probably think Im crazy to believe that this letter will reach you or even make a difference if it does. But as for myself I will remain hopeful for my hope seems at times all I have left. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Carla Rae McIntosh
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 02:22:20 +0000
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