[cva66snipe]

I’ve worked with poor, disabled clients in D.C. who have both Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid picks up what Medicare doesn’t. Since Medicaid is a state program, I suppose eligibility and the rules change from state to state. And it seems TN decided they couldn’t have both back in ‘05. One client told me that when/if you are listed as permanently disabled for two years, you automatically get Medicare and it’s a far better program.

I'm disabled myself as is my wife and live in Tennessee. What likely happened is one or a combination of several things. The first is if he lived with his parents THEIR income would also factor into his Tenncare elgiability with Tenncare covering till year two of disability and Medicare coverage. Yes if you meet the poverty level you can also actually have all three meaning Tenncare, Medicare/Medicaid.

To a certain extent Tenncare replaced most of Medicaid in the state and became a semi stste universal health care program. A Dem governor Ned Ray McWherter with the help of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton got the corruption and scandal ridden program going. It got worse under the RINO who took McWherters place for 8 years. The past 8 under a semi fisical conservative DEM did address some of the coruption. Or at least more so than before.

Tenncare does try from time to time to boot the disabled off. Trying to get health care insurance when being disabled is almost impossible or cost prohibitive. Medicaid was first intended for the working who became disabled or died and a survivor net for family. It kinda sounds like to me that his Disability payments was high enough it disqualified him from Tenncare.

Tenncare also handled much of the mental health patients at one time. Another problem is the agency who was overseeing his care could had the authority to do for him what family could not. It is difficult at best for family to get someone mental health help because of permission laws.

I'm also guessing his Medicare HMO did not have a contract with that program. To his credit to get disability and Medicare it does sound like he held employment at some point for a considerable time and that's not too far fetched either.

40 years ago his family could have had him committed and gotten him help. The laws of today on mental health intervention stink and yes they can get persons killed for much less severe and preventable problems.

[EDINVA]

You are so much more knowledgeable than I, and are living with these programs up close and personal. I wonder if, as you assume his Medicare HMO didn’t cover this particular program, there would have been another that might have been equally effective?

It’s hard to imagine since his primary disability was a mental issue, that he wouldn’t have had an array of services to choose from. Or at least some appropriate choices.

Also hard to believe that the program that was so effective wouldn’t have seen to it, as he became ineligible (which didn’t happen overnight), that he found a viable alternative before releasing him.

While I think these are programs that have been terribly abused, they are there to help the truly disabled, and it’s a shame that because of the abuse, it’s those same truly disabled who are least well served.