Just When You Think

All is right again, something changes. Just as I was relieved that help had finally arrived, I faced yet another bureaucratic, red tape circle jerk. It just never seems to end. Once you're approved for public assistance, you spend a great amount of time justifying that you require it and an equal amount of time frustrated because you have it.

My husband qualified for Medicaid in 2003 when he was first admitted into a rehab facility. Usually once you qualify for help, you don't lose it. So that help has continued throughout his illness. It's been a blessing for the most part. Every now and then however, you wish you had other alternatives.

Medicaid pays for a great deal of services that aren't covered under Medicare or private insurance. It pays for his personal care aide, some of his durable medical equipment (DME) and for his 3 times per week transportation to dialysis. Because he can no longer transfer from his wheelchair to a private vehicle (POV), whenever I need to get him somewhere, like a doctor's appointment for example, I have to use a transportation company. We don't own a vehicle that can transport a wheelchair and we can't afford to buy one. The transportation company is dispatched through a local company called Logisticare, INC. I assume that Logisticare is a state run agency that coordinates all of the Medicaid transports for the state of VA. They are the folks that I call if I have a complaint about his transportation or to request a new transportation company and to schedule any "extra" pickups outside of his tri-weekly trips to dialysis.

I called Logisticare on this past Wednesday, May 13th because I had scheduled my husband's first follow up appointment with his primary care physician since his hospitalization for today, May 15th. I was told 48 hours should be plenty of notice for them to find him a ride. When I dialed the number, I heard on the automatic answering device, that they required 5 days advance notice for pickups outside of standing order pickups. 5 DAYS!! I navigated through the menu and got to a real, live human being and told him what I needed and that I had no idea there was a 5 day notice. He told me since this was something relatively new for them and I didn't know he would schedule him for the pickup but from now on to please observe the 5 day notice. No problem, I said.

When I got home from the short amount of workday that I put in on Thursday, there was a message on my answering machine from Logisticare. The red flags and bells sounded the alarm in my mind immediately. I phoned them and was told they weren't sure why they called me. No one had left a note in the computer explaining anything. The person I spoke to said that "in her opinion, they probably hadn't been able to find him a wheelchair provider yet" and that I should call them first thing in the morning.

Friday morning....Logisticare called me at 0900. Informed me that they had not been able to find him a wheelchair provider and they would continue to try and wanted to know if he could go on a stretcher. Certainly, I said. The young lady told me that if I hadn't heard from them by 1:30pm to call them to inquire of our status. His appointment was for 2:00pm.

1:15pm...Nothing from Logisticare yet. I phoned them at that time. They had found no one that could take him, wheelchair or stretcher, but they would continue to look. I informed them that his appointment was for 2pm. They said, "we know". I never heard from them again.

Needless to say I had to cancel his appointment because of no availability of transportation. I rescheduled for May 27th and immediately scheduled a pickup time for him with Logisticare for that day.

How can a company's only job be to find transportation for Medicaid recipients and they fail to do it? I don't understand. That's like KFC running out of chicken (oh wait..that did happen).

The circus continues and the ride never ends.