Living on Limited Health Care

Aired June 10, 1999

This is INFOhio After Nine, I am David C. Barnett, saying hello to you on this June 10th, 1999. Did you catch Talk of the Nation yesterday afternoon? Ray Suarez devoted an hour to assessing welfare reform, now that various states are starting to report their progress, or lack thereof. Here at 90.3, we are devoting an entire year to such an assessment. We call it "The Changing Face of Welfare," and today, we look at the term, "the working poor." It applies to those working their way off the welfare rolls and into full-time payrolls. These welfare recipients are among millions of Americans who don't get health benefits from their employers. That means they must depend on the limited health care available to those on public assistance. 90.3 correspondent Harry Boomer spoke with a grandmother about her experiences with welfare's health care.

Faye–My name is Faye, F-A-Y-E, I live with my two grandchildren, ages 11 and 5.

Harry Boomer–Faye is this welfare recipient's middle name. She wants to maintain some sense of anonymity, but she wants to talk about the welfare health care system. Faye started receiving public assistance so she could take care of two of her eight grandchildren.

Faye–My daughter is not in a position to take care of her children, and they've been with me for the last four-and-a-half years.

HB–The 11-year old needed to have a wart surgically removed from the bottom of her foot. That's what brought them in contact with the county's health care system.

Faye–The health care gives you a lot of problems that you don't necessarily would have if you just go see the doctor, you know, like, you have to have referrals for everything, and I had no problem getting the referral from my doctor, but I had to have seven before her foot was taken care of, you know, like each time I'd have to go back and get a referral. It just didn't make sense to me, you've got your bus fare to get to your doctor, and your bus fare back, and then you have to go to the doctor, which is unnecessary, you should just have to go the one, you know, the foot doctor, because if he's a qualified doctor, he knows if she has a problem. I shouldn't have to see two doctors. It's an unnecessary expense for me, and for them, I feel.

HB–A while back, Faye started having problems with her eyes. She needed glasses. Faye says her old HMO, which went out of business, prescribed bifocals for her. She says they were very poorly made.

Faye–They're not matched up right so you can see through them, and the doctor tries to make you wear them anyway, by making you feel like you're inadequate and you don't know what is wrong. They act as if you're not smart enough to know you can't see out of these glasses.

HB–As she said that, she picked up a pair of glasses from the dining room table where we were sitting. She was wearing another pair, which, she says, took her four months to get because of red tape.

Faye–They're not right either, so you have a very hard time getting the doctors to do good work when you're on welfare. You can go to a person and you're not on welfare, they'll make you a good pair of glasses. You go back and you're on welfare, you get crappy glasses. They act as if they don't need or want the welfare recipient, they're just required to take them. That's their attitude.. We don't need you, we don't want you, but we have to take you. They're not paying us enough to be bothered. That is the doctor's, the hospital's, everybody's attitude. (HB: How does that make you feel?) It makes me feel like a second-class citizen, like you shouldn't be there. You don't have any rights, that your kids don't have the right to health care. They don't have a right to a doctor or anything, that they're just in everybody's way.

HB–Faye does not like the managed care, HMO way of administering medicine. She says the old way of getting a medical card, choosing her own doctor, and then getting the care she needed was far better.

Faye–I do have a problem understanding what an emergency is. I raised my own kids, and I have eight grandchildren, so I feel if I think something is an emergency, it's probably an emergency. I don't think I should have to call and waste my time, call my doctor to see what she thinks, or call a hotline to see what someone else thinks. I think I should be able to make that decision, and say "hey, there's something wrong with my kid, I want to take him to a doctor," because while I'm calling someone else, getting their opinion, one of them could die. I don't think that's necessary, because as a rule, if you're qualified to watch a child, you know when there's something wrong. You don't need help, not from somebody on the phone line. You need help from a doctor, and I think I should be allowed to make that decision on my own, because my kid is my first priority, making sure that it's alright.

HB–Faye and the two grandchildren she is caring for live on the near west side of Cleveland. She says she sees a problem coming down the road.

Faye–Right now, my kids are 11 and 5, and they're telling me that they're entitled to 36 months of welfare, which we have 10, 16 months left, and after that they get nothing else. And you know, I've asked them, what do I do with my grandchildren, am I supposed to put them in foster care?.

HB–Some answers to that question in a couple of weeks when our year-long series, "The Changing Face of Welfare," continues. For INFOhio, I'm Harry Boomer in Cleveland.