Disabled Debbie From the Town Hall

I didn't watch much of the Health Care town hall meeting because I was actually working, but one thing has caught my attention. That is the woman, Debbie, who spoke about how she can't work, has no insurance, and a new tumor.

Let's set aside for a moment that this woman was placed there as an Obama supporter. She's actually a volunteer for one of the organizations working toward health care. I can see her being a volunteer due to her situation, but as somebody who deals with insurance, her situation raised some questions for me.

Obama answered her situation by saying a nation this rich should be able to take care of people in her situation. My question is, don't we already? If she is really unable to work isn't she on SSI Disability? And if she is, then guess what, she qualifies for Medicare if she has paid into it. If she hasn't, then she's eligible for Medicaid. So our current socialized health care programs actually cover her situation.

So why isn't she on Medicare or Medicaid then? Could it possibly be that SSI Disability has a policy of denying every claim on it's first submission and only reconsidering on appeal? But wait a minute, this is a government program. Isn't it only the evil private insurers who would do something so diabolical? And she did say that SSI has denied her claim saying renal failure is not a qualifier for disability. This is the government program folks. This is the people we plan on putting in charge.

She also said she doesn't qualify for Medicaid because she has to be on disability. And Medicare eligibility occurs for renal failure, but only once you've started dialysis.

This is why Debbie is disabled but not already covered under that umbrella? My deepest sympathies go out to her for the health issues she is going through, and I hope her issues are resolved soon, but sadly, this is more of a condemnation of our government insurance programs than our private ones.