Take A Number

So by now, if you've read any good portion of this blog, you know that I am the mother of two adopted children. Both were in foster care and my husband and I were their foster parents as we waited for things to be finalized.

What you don't know is that being a foster parent exposed me to a world I knew little about. I grew up in your average middle class family. My parents did what was necessary to provide for us and even when things were lean, I never knew it. So public assistance programs and how they work were foreign to me.

But when you foster, your children are eligible for certain benefits. For example, all children in foster care in Florida receive Medicaid and infants get WIC (Women, Infant and Children) a program that provides milk and dairy products for women and their children in low economic tax brackets. Foster children receive these benefits because as wards of the State, it is the State that is ultimately responsible for their care.

They recommend that all foster parents take advantage of the benefits the children are eligible for because the more you pay for out of pocket, the more many in the State sometime expect you to pay for.

So, it started with WIC. I was given an appointment time to show up, sign my name and receive coupons for my foster child's formula and cereal for the month. My appointment time was 8:30 a.m. I arrived 15 minutes early and figured I was all set... yeah right.

I arrive only to find that the appointment time is useless, I must take a number, like in the deli line, and wait for my number to be called.

Then, it was off to the doctor. First, finding a decent pediatrician that takes Medicaid is a joke. Finally, I find one, and make an appointment. Again, I arrive about 15 minutes early to fill out the necessary paperwork. Four hours later, I get the prescription for my daughter's ear infection.

Recently, a dear friend of mine went to see her Medicaid OBGYN. She had pap smear that came back abnormal. You would think the next step would be to order more tests right? No, the doctor told her that since she didn't have HPV, (Human Papilloma Virus), they would just wait a year and then retest. Fortunately she insisted that her primary physician send her to another doctor who ran the appropriate tests and learned that she has pre-cancerous cells in her cervix. They are scheduling out patient surgery to remove the cells.

So what's my point? It's simple. The way people on public assistance are treated is deplorable. They deserve the same level of care as anyone else. I mean, four hours at the doctor? Give me a break. It was as though they figured I didn't have a job anyway and could afford to just sit there. And my friend - how frustrating can it be to have an abnormal test and no answers as to why and a doctor who says "Abnormal? no worries!" Get real!

Fortunately for me and my children, I had the resources to just pay for a doctor if I had to - it would have cost a pretty penny, and I would have to rework the budget, but at least I had the option.

But for my friend and thousands like her, they have no other choice. So, what are they to do?

Now that my children are officially adopted and I was able to add them to my insurance, I've switched pediatricians and decreased my wait time. I look forward to the day that my friend can do the same.