 |
||||||||
 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
 |
The Senate musters up an ounce of compassion
© St. Petersburg Times What the Florida State Senate did Wednesday will not change some of the terrible realities of William Goforth's life. He still will be financing much of his existence through a credit card. But at least he'll get his medications. At least his visits to the cardiologist will be paid for. Goforth, a 75-year-old retired truck driver from St. Petersburg, got some hopeful news Wednesday when the Senate voted to extend the Medically Needy program for another two months. It is scheduled for a dramatic cutback on May 1. Goforth is among the 27,000 people who are about to be forced to give up all but $450 of their monthly income before the state would pick up a nickel of their costs come that date. "You don't know how much I appreciate this," Goforth said when I told him about the last-minute reprieve. I also had to tell him the bad news: The state House still has to vote on the extension of the Medically Needy program and the governor must approve it. Lawmakers and the governor then have to decide whether to renew the Medically Needy program, in full or in part, next year. "I guess we need to continue the pressure," said Pat Riester, administrator of a St. Petersburg dialysis clinic, where as many as 10 Medically Needy patients would have been affected by the change. The Medically Needy program covers the bills of the old, the poor and the disabled, people who are uninsurable, people too young for Medicare. People disabled by bipolar disorder. People with bad hearts. Transplant and dialysis patients. All of them terrified of the prospect of living on $450 a month. I'm not sure what happened to change the minds of the senators, except that perhaps the Republicans grew tired of being depicted like fat cats and meanies. They must have finally understood the people they were dealing with, people so sick they take as many as 15 different drugs a day, people who live on disability checks and food stamps. That was the galling part of the attack on the Medically Needy program. More than anything, it showed a lack of understanding about the reality of life for patients. You got the feeling they were regarded as welfare cheats, bums, who had not taken responsibility for their condition or had gone out of their way to contract some catastrophic illness. The state, by God, was going to push the responsibility back on them. The state gave people only a month's notice of the change and began to offer some assistance only last week. Officials established a toll-free hot line people could call. If you called, you got a referral to your local Medicaid office. A couple of patients I talked to said the local offices had no information to give. State officials also seemed to be assuming that there was an enormous network outside of government that people could rely on. This is fantasy. In Pinellas County, two private non-profit groups help people find their drugs at reduced prices but some, if not many, of the drug companies insist that the patient have no insurance. Medically Needy might count as a kind of insurance. I don't want to leave you with the impression that nobody in state government was paying attention before the Senate voted late Wednesday. State Sen. Jim Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, has been circulating a tip sheet, aimed at elderly people, on how they can get their medications more cheaply. Tip No. 8 recommends buying your drugs from Canadian pharmacies. "Have the lowest prices by far!" the tip reads. A website is identified. A couple of toll-free numbers are listed. Nowhere does the tip sheet mention that getting your drugs from Canada, though commonplace, is illegal. It must have been an oversight. -- You can reach Mary Jo Melone at mjmelone@sptimes.com
or (813) 226-3402.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
Times columns today From the Times Metro desk |
|||||||||||||||||||
