My mother has sever degenerative joint disease, and is in need of hip
replacement surgery. She has recently been approved for disability,
however the amount she was approved for prevents her from being
eligible for Medicaid. There is a 24 month waiting period for
Medicare, and the hospital will not even consider doing the surgery
without Medicare or insurance coverage (which she doesn't have). She
is 50 years old, and would be working except that the problems with
the hip leave her completely immobilized. With the surgery, she could
be back on her feet within 6 weeks. We have contacted many
organizations including the regional Medicare office to no avail. Any
help or information, including personal experiences would be helpful.

Christine wrote:

Christine, there are several organizations nationwide that can help,
but we need to know what area your mother lives in so we are
able to name those near her.

"firechief" <Postmaster@127.0.0.1> wrote in message news:<X3P2b.65811$kP.45295@fed1read03>...
I am Christine's mother. My daughter has been trying to help me find
a solution. I am currently living in Las Vegas, NV. After almost 30
years of working with health insurance, my company had a hick-up and I
spent the last 2 years working in temporary companies with no
insurance. Although the condition was present, and I was being
treated medically while insured, it was misdiagnosed. It seems I had
a trama that severed the main artery supplying blood to my left hip
which caused the severe degeneration at this stage. There is also
nerve damage. I continued to work in hopes of getting a position with
insurance but as the condition worsened, it became almost impossible
to walk. The company I was with insisted I go to the emergency room
and the rest is history. The last six months I have been waiting for
decisions on medicaid and disability, not knowing eligibility
requirements and not finding a lot of real information. I felt pretty
comfortable with the fact that I would be considered disabled and
perhaps have the hip replacement within six months and be back to work
within the year (you know - thank god I've been working and paying my
taxes, etc for so long, my safety net, if all else fails, in case
something like this happens). I'm only 50 years old. I have had some
very nice people try to assist me but for the most part, have dealt
with some beligerant and rude people in the system. My only family
left are my daughters aged 20 and 22. The medical facility will bill
me for everything except the surgery. Medicare does not start for 24
months. My outlook is grim, two more years of severe pain (even with
hydrocodine), no standing because of pain (this includes showers,
bathroom, fending for oneself - I have crutches), and not getting back
into the work force until I'm 54 or 55, depending on further damage.
I contacted SHIP, the regional medicare/medicaid office, attorneys,
Help of Southern Nevada, all to no avail. Basically, I was given some
resources to help me get low income housing, food stamps, and other
things to help me get through the next two years and it appears that
most programs including medicaid consider $500 a month the max for
poverty levels of single people in Nevada. My problem is not getting
through lean times (that I can deal with). My problem is dealing with
this horrendous pain.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I thought perhaps
there might be some kind of waiver for medicare but have been told on
numerous occasions that there are no waivers, only laws for certain
diseases to waive the waiting period. Thanks for your help. (I
considered Opra - but....)