medicare/social security

when you are diagnosed with a chronic illness there will be chunks of time you will not be able to work - because of this, the government does provide financial assistance - you just have to sign your life away and sell your mother to get it..


dealing with social security is one of the most trying aspects of being a patient - not only are you dealing with your illness - you have to deal with people who in my experience are rude, incompetent and misinformed - for example, when this all started i went to my local office to see what i could do to start receiving benefits - i was told i owe back pay from 1990 - even though i never received a letter regarding this - oh wait - yes, yes i was mailed notification of this but they had me living at an address i have never lived, in a completely different part of the state. i called just last week to find out i was dead - since i was "deceased"in their system - i mean you have to laugh at all this because it is so, so ridiculous - i can not imagine how the elderly or folks who speak english as a second language maneuver themselves in this web - there has to be a way to make this easier or at least more pleaseant

i would suggest - try to remain calm and thoughtful when speaking to them on the phone - if they do not like your tone - they can hang up on you with no repercussion - this has happened to me twice (nice huh?) - even though they say call is recorded - i found out later this is not always the case

you may think bringing a copy of your medical records would be helpful - wrong -you sign a medical release form and they request your recs - so they know all reports are legitimate

keep EVERYTHING they send you, DOCUMENT all phone calls, date of your call, name of the person you spoke to

customer service is pretty much the last thing on their list - when i go to the local office the girls at the window barely raise their head - let alone say hello - i know that job can not be easy - i am sure they get screamed at many times during the day from the melting pot of clientèle - but can they not treat me as i am trying to treat them? a little kindness, a smile, can go along way when you are dealing with a very frustrating situation