The past two years have been rough on my wife and I. Stuck with a Republican governor and homophobic V.A. employees have not made things easier for us. Sharon is fighting the V.A. and I am struggling to get a job because I have constantly been sick.
...more after the orange french curve...
The state swung in favor of President Obama as we all now know but the attitudes of many Ohioans are not those of the president. Sharon fights with the V.A. everyday because of rude employees. They refused to address Sharon as Ma'am or Ms. Now that we are married Mrs should just cause hellacious bitching it is just going to get worse with V.A. Regional Office.
She filed a claim for Acoustic Trauma and finally won her case but they only back dated her claim to 2008. It was filed many years before that. The way the V.A. works, claims are supposed to be compensated back to the original filing date. We were counting on that money from the V.A. to get out of the state. When Sharon's attorney brought it up to the V.A.R.O. (V.A. Regional Office) they admitted to the earlier date but now six months later they are still stuck at the first stage of the appeal even though they admitted to the earlier filing date. We have since filed a case request with our senator. Lucky(?) us Sherrod Brown defeated Josh Mandel. We hope.
We are poor. If you are poor in Ohio dont expect help, especially if you are LGBT. With a household of two we bring in $2,070. After bills and medication we are struggling to get through month to month. Our budget? Here it is and if anyone out there has even one helpful suggestion please do chime in:
Rent: $350
Cell Phones: $185
Electric: $70
Groceries(for an ischemic patient): $500
Medication: $475
Car Insurance: $116
Internet: $38
Life Insurance: $8
AAA: $8.33
Gas: $250
Washing Machine: $15
If you add that up it equals $2015.33. That leaves us with $54.67 wiggle room each month if we stay on budget. What happens when our car breaks down or we need clothing? We either blow our budget or wait for some kind of miracle.
Recently one of our vehicles broke down. The part alone was $177, if you don't know someone who will do the work you have to take it to a mechanic. Well that $177 part turned into $350 worth of work to a mechanic. That mechanic was a friend of my fathers who I have called "Uncle" since I was a child. We were very fortunate that that "uncle" very generously donated the parts and labor to get that car back on the road, otherwise we would both have been stranded 70 miles apart. We asked for help from The Red Cross and The Salvation Army. Both of us were turned down. Sharon called in her county and I called in mine. She "makes too much money" and we can't get help. You would think that the V.A. might care enough about its veterans to help out during hardships but they are the last ones to give an inch and this is usually one of the first suggestions (passing the buck instead of offering aid) out of peoples mouths-"Oh your spouse is a vet? Will the V.A. help? " I don't mean to be rude but the V.A. doesn't "wipe vets butts" the way people think and I sorely wish the public would get educated to this fact.
I cant remember the last time I felt healthy. The stress gets to you. I feel sick when I eat. Strep has gotten to me ten times in the past two years. Two surgeries on my knee this year has caused grief. My wisdom teeth are sideways. Arthritis kills me at all hours of the day. My medication wouldn't be so damned expensive if I could afford adequate health insurance but that is way out of the picture. I don't even want to think about how much proper dental insurance would be for us.
Most of Sharon's medical expenses are covered under the V.A. or Medicare except her dental work. She was going to the county dental office but now they refuse to see anyone unless you have cash upfront. We don't have readily available, loose cash "upfront" anymore than we can afford gas to travel 70 miles if Sharon needs to go to the V.A.'s Urgent Care so now the county dental bill remains unpaid.
It sucks when the lower and middle class are screwed over by the government and big business. You know our country is in bad shape when there is a one year waiting period for SSI/SSDI and that's not even to be approved, thats just to go in front of a judge regarding your claim!
I don't blame this on President Obama. He took on eight years of Bush's mess. When you are in grid lock and took on the mess that President Obama did you can't accomplish as much as people think. I want a country that is not based on greed but based on strength, caring community and education. Once that happens people will be better off. Hopefully the Affordable Care Act will soon help me afford adequate health insurance instead of what I call the "medical discount" that I currently get. That "medical discount" plan is again almost no help when it "assumes" people have a few extra dollars of loose cash and they can pay 30% of a bill while the "medical discount" plan oh-so-generously offers to pay 70%. That too is a bunch of crap. I have had to do without medicine I needed because I didn't have the 30%.
I just hope President Obama can get this country back on track. People are suffering and want relief. The 1% need to give back what they took from the 99% to get where they are. Yes Mitt Money and "Queen" Ann I'm looking at you and I'm thankful you are no more. Hopefully we are all around to see the ACA and Single Payer be a-borning.
...oh and one more thing-
Governor Kasich, remember Mitt Romney? Ohio has a message for you:
YOU'RE NEXT!