Before I start this story, the answer is 'yes,' the story is true. It sounds like something someone would make up as a story as to why the system is broken, but it's not.
Case Manager: "Yes, sir, did you want to talk with me?"
Patient: "I just wanted to complain about something."
Case Manager: "Okaayy..."
Patient: "Before I moved here (to our state), I looked up online which states get the largest proportion of federal funding for welfare and Medicaid. I am very disappointed so far in the amount of assistance I have received."
Case Manager: "Well, we are a very poor state, statistically. What assistance were you applying for?"
Patient: "I have a place to live and my application for federal housing was turned down because of that. I was denied welfare because I haven't had a job in several years and couldn't prove my income qualified."
Case Manager: "Well, I won't be able to help you with any of that."
Patient: "Well, I need you to get all my medicines for free. I need you to call all the manufacturers of the medicines they are putting me on and get them to give them to me for free. I also need you to write off this visit to the hospital so I don't have to pay for anything."
Case Manager: "Sir, I cannot do that."
Patient (continuing): "I need you to call Medicaid and tell them that I qualify."
Case Manager: "Well, I can help you with the application..."
Patient: "I really want to tell you how disappointed I am about not being on welfare by now. It's not right that I have to wait like this."
Ok, I left a lot of this conversation out because there is a lot of backstory I won't go into, but the gist of it is this: a HEALTHY 40 year-old man left his home state and came to ours SPECIFICALLY to live off the government for the rest of his life. He had worked manual labor for most of his life, had zero disabilities and was upset that this kept him from getting all the free money he wanted. He had not worked in several years because he didn't feel like it, not because of a shortage of manual labor jobs out there (he said this).
These people, while a very small minority, actually freaking exist. The only redeeming part of the story is that the federal aid office saw through his B.S. and refused him most of the aid he claimed he deserved.
Patient: "That's not right."
You're right sir, it isn't. I'm just glad this is the first time I've ever truly encountered someone like this. We complain about patients who feel entitled all the time, but most of them can be simply laughed off because we know they won't get what they want or if they get it, it's not something that matters. This guy might not, but if he persists, eventually he'll find a loophole that will allow him to live off other people's efforts and he will do this because he thinks he deserves it by virtue of his birth. A sad existence, to be sure.
#sigh
6 comments:
Thank you, thank you, thank you for understanding that this jerkass is the vast minority, not the rule for people who are on assistance programs.
I'm constantly being told by people who "know someone who cheats on welfare/food stamps/medicaid/etc., etc.,etc." that that's the common thing, not the exception. People think that giving less money to the poor is a good thing because, they believe, most of the people who claim to be poor are either lazy and lying or lazy and on drugs.
Meanwhile, I can read stories like this and cry. Wherever you are, twatwaffle, I hope you never, ever get your free ride. Please go die in a fire.
When I worked in rural Louisiana, I took care of mostly Medicaid patients. Although a lot of them were taking advantage of the system, I never held it against most of them because it was how they were raised. The solution to that problem is education. I have no idea what to do about someone like the guy I mentioned above. I'm open to suggestions that don't involve firearms (but I haven't totally ruled those out, either).
shame-- i think shame is a great way to start. find ways to shame them-- show them pictures of children who can't get benefits because people like this guy are clogging up the system. tell them sad stories of people who are working their ass off and still can't make it. mock them mercilessly. at the very least, you'll feel better for having spoken your truth! and teach them the saying-- "no worky, no eaty." and do it while you are eating a delicious lunch in front of them.
I'm sorry, people like this really tick me off. I have multiple serious health conditions and have been told many times that the condition that I'm being treated for is potentially fatal. I have been short term disability provided as a benefit of the job I hold, but never on public assistance. I stay on FMLA to protect my job, but I do work and almost never miss more work than I have discretionary and vacation time to cover. Some times it's hard to get up in the morning, and sometimes it is all I can do to get my work done. But I do it. The really sad thing is that I know that if I ever needed public assistance, it would not be available because of people like this. Even with 16 medical specialist stating that I am unable to work, assistance wouldn't be available. Still, I work with people at the Fortune 100 company that I work for who game the system, just because they can. And they brag about it like it's something they are proud of. It really infuriates me.
My experience is that people who suffer from extreme entitlement are shame-proof.
There is not only the problem that he might some time slip through and get benefits, there is also the here-and-now fact that he is usurping resources with his claims and complaints - resources that are scarce to begin with. (Ask any public sector social worker.)
Benefits fraud should be prosecuted and the penalties should involve work for the public good, preferably manual.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
I thnk that if you are claiming welfare (and do not have any injuries or disorders), you should be out doing volunteer work through social services so that you will actually 'earn' money and are doing something to help the community. Shovel snow or cut grass of elderly people, help keep parks clean and safe, help out reading with school children, etcetra. That way they aren't de Irving benefits when all they do is sit on a couch all day!
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