A Video of Two Lawyers that had to Deal with Sedgwick CMS! You have to watch this!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr-oBp03JUk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
This is succinctly what I have explained to you about Segdwick CMS!
These are two lawyers discussing their experience with Sedgwick CMS, I love that they just happened to use AT&T as an example!!
Your mouth is going to drop open.

The Pain Continues...

It is now going on 3 years since my accident.  I am still losing.  It's not enough losing my job(due to AT&T's wholehearted support of it's henchmen, Sedgwick a.k.a. "Benefits Department" blatant misconduct.), losing my insurance, losing my perfect credit, my income in any form, my independance, my dignity, and my ability to live one day without excruciating pain.
I am now relegated to the Pre-Existing Insurance Plan, you know, the Affordable Care Act?
"How does your health insurance policy affect your wallet? Find out how the law helps you get the most value for your premium dollar"
(bullshit)!
Affordable being $356.00 per month(for one person) plus double deductibles for prescription medication and medical that they do not disclose or muddle, so after you pay $375.00 for your "Non-Formulary" deductible and your $250.00 "Formulary & Generic" deductible...you get 3 refills then you have to pay 50% of the RETAIL cost if you do not use MEDCO, their mail-order pharmacy for no less than 90 day prescriptions, if you want your PAID FOR, PRESCRIPTION COVERAGE (which you cannot do for pain medication, the government ironically, requires that pain meds are non-refillable...each month has to be on some specially watermarked paper and HAND SIGNED.), which again is not disclosed.  In the booklet, for prescriptions (16 pages long... the medical benefit booklet is 4 PAGES, lots 'o information there) says $4 for generic, $30 for formulary, $60 for non-formulary.  All this blessing, after only waiting the mandatory 6 months without insurance (Medicaid, after I was fired for my son and myself - another long story).  I then had to wait another 3 months until my coverage took effect.My insurance began November 1st, 2011...on January 1st, 2012 the deductibles started over.  I was not informed that it was annually and not anniversary, I've had both kinds during my employment history, and had I been informed of that, obviously I would have put off my enrollment until January 1st, 2012...I would have gotten 9 months of "coverage" at least, and my poor mother who is getting poorer every month, wouldn't have had to spend the following:
In 2011- Nov., $356 insurance, about $525 for 4 prescriptions, 2 Generic, $300 Dr. (supposed to be a $25 visit), but $1,000 deductible so we'll say...hmmm, but okay.  Then, Dec., $356 insurance,  $225 4 scripts -2 generic, $100 pymt arrangement for another $285 Dr. bill still saying ummm, see my Primary Care Dr.(to get a Neurologist referral) get an $80 bill for a $25 visit...what the....$310 bill for 1st visit consult insurance paid nothing.  I need 2 CTs 1w/contrast 1w/out...received phone call from hospital they said that it would cost me a $1,800 deductible and that they had never seen a deductible that high.  According to my 4 page "pamphlet", I was only supposed to be charged 20%...so I suppose that CTs are $4,500 per test.  I call the insurance company to find out what the hell is going on, and they inform me that I have a deductible and co-deductible...huh?  They can't seem to explain what the hell they actually do for the $356 a month or how this 2 medical deductible works or the 6 deductible prescription thing works...so, I am just supposed to be okay with never knowing how much THE SAME MEDICATION is going to cost me from month to month, unless I use MEDCO, I explain that 2 of my medications(the most expensive) aren't eligible for their mail-order pharmacy and that I can't wait 10 days for the other.  I am told, "Well, I'm sorry then... I can't give you a monthly total, and I am sorry that you don't understand the co-deductible for your CTs.  Is there anything else I can help you with? "HAHA!!!, this is our Affordable Care Act.  So, no test.  In two months $945 just for doctors appointments, $712 in insurance payments, $750 in prescriptions  add in January and February $4,019.00 FOR FOUR MONTHS...does that sound affordable to you?
Ask yourselves, is this what we want?  Is this what we are robbed for, every paycheck?  Is this how we want to leave it for our kids, grandkids, our own old age????  I don't think so, so what are we gonna do about it?

**Please forgive any fragmented flow of the writing of this post, my computer died and I have to write from a phone.  It's exceptionally hard to write cohesively when you can't see what you are writing.**

Changing the Human Heart

I have recently realized that it doesn't take a miracle, an act of vengance, unending anger, or even a swift solution to change the pain in your heart or the aching in your soul.  My life is no different today than it was yesterday, in the literal sense.  My son and I still have no insurance, money, treatment, answers, or justice.  But, what I do have, is a personal connection with some small recognition.  


To know that there are people out there that have taken notice that we exist and have empathy and compassion for how we are having to exist.  Just to know that there is even one person in the world that has seen this blog and it has changed them in some small way.  This has been changing my world, one hit at a time, one comment at a time, one message at a time.


I have recently by "introduced" to someone that has overcome unbelievable obstacles in life... no he's not injured or disabled in the sense that I speak about in this blog.  He is however a survivor of pain just as unbearable and yet he has fearlessly set out to change the world and is accomplishing that task one person at a time.  He says "Art saved my life.", and I believe it also propelled him into his purpose.  Overcoming unimaginable loss, pain, poverty, fear, and injustice... he has not just moved on he is leaving his mark.  This is a change in the human heart.


I now understand what he meant when he said that art had saved his life.  He discovered his voice and his purpose and not only shared it with literally the world, but became the voice of those who had none.  With the recognition, interest, and outcry I have received of late... I now know I need to be a voice, change my heart and live out loud.  Not just for me... but for those like me who cannot.  To cast aside my anger and move outward from blame to love and service.


Thank you to all of you for your hits, comments, and messages... and thank you Edwin Gil.  You have all given me my smile back.

http://www.edwingil.com/site/
http://www.facebook.com/Edwin.Gil

"I am a friend of XXXXX, and I am so looking forward to meeting you very soon. I also, most importantly want to tell you, from one artist to another... you have inspired me to live out loud. I am a disabled person. I had an accident and broke my neck, the accident cost me my job, my identity, my body, and has left me as a overlooked and unimportant minority. My country has forsaken all of us who have been injured and disabled, discarded by our employers, denied our benefits, and left us with no voice. There is no legislation, no protests, no action on the behalf of us who cannot fight for ourselves because we have been stripped of everything including our ability to provide for ourselves and our families. I gave up... but you have given me inspiration. I am going to tell our story, as you have so beautifully told the story of others as well as your own. Thank you Edwin. Your voice has given mine back to me."
Alicia


"Alicia thanks for share with me this words,
You touch my soul with that message and I don't know what say.
Art saved my life and true art we can build bridges between communities and people I would like to meet you and talk more with you."
Thanks
Edwin Gil


"Alicia can I put what you write on my page?
Thanks"

This is what it is all about... this is how we change human hearts, by reaching out to another person and letting them reach out to you. 

A Voice of Pain and Injustice

Here is a very poignant poem written by a pain sufferer for over ten years. She was forced to undergo a reduced dose of pain medication and wrote this poem about the increase in pain that she was experiencing. I think it is important to use all means we have at communicating the dreadful impact of this invisible disease:

Oh, I Want to Live..... (A Poem by Anonymous)


Oh, 
I want to live… 
Please stand with me 
Please help me
Please help me win the civil right
To have the choice
To stop the agony
To be of stable mind 
To secure the means
Of reason
To not be pushed 
Into no choice at all
To not be forced
To raise my hands against myself
To dwell 
In mind blinding agony 
Is to not be 
In my right mind
All thought is pressed
To stop the agony
To be forced to live in agony is
To live in hell on earth
To not see an end 
To the blinding agony
To not have the freedom
The civil right
To love
To learn
To grow 
To move foreword
And live
This is death 
To be abandoned
To ultimately 
Be sentenced
To exist in blindness
The Hopeless Madness
Of a living torture
Where choice is stripped from you
And death is not
The thing feared anymore
A life turned to
Stupid empty agony
Every coming tormented moment
Is seeking an end to the consuming agony
To make this horrible torment STOP STOP STOP STOP 
The leading cause of death
For the chronic pain sufferer
Is suicide
I do not want to die
Please
Together we can win
A better choice
To rescue 
The ones tortured
In chronic intractable pain
I do not want to die
I want to live
To love
To learn
To grow
To move forward
To life
Please 
We must stand together
To make them see
That we are many
And many love us
And we will not
Just slip away
Into the darkness
To suffer in dumb agony
Where there is only death 
To comfort our tortured bodies and minds
Help is available
We as American citizens
Do not deserve
To suffer to death
While those with power
To stop our suffering
Deny us this choice
And pass false judgments
To guard their precious prize
Their precious millions
They’re precious billions
They cheer 
They celebrate together
That they denied us
That which was created for us
The means to stop our senseless suffering
And set us free from the pain 
They are happy that we are dying
Because they saved their precious profits
Because in their twisted minds
They believe that 
We do not matter
But we are here
To let them know
That we will not just go away
That we demand a change
We demand the choice 
The right we have 
Under God
As Americans
To Be Free
Of Pain
And Live 
With the means 
That sets the pain behind us
And frees our minds
And frees our bodies
We Want To Live

Things You Should Know

I am waiting, hopefully, for some stories to share with you.  But, before I do... I want you to see what "we" are up against.  The tidal wave people like myself are being swept up in.  These are some examples of the despicable atrocities Big Business are getting away with, while our government turns their heads and look the other way.
http://www.gesupplydiscrimination.com/weblog/Daily%20Journal%20LTD%20Day%202.pdf


http://www.gesupplydiscrimination.com/files/htm1/ATT%20Freedom%20Fighter%20News.htm


http://www.ripoffreport.com/directory/Sedgwick-CMS.aspx

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/disability-benefits-c161615.html#c617889

After you have a chance to read these... you will be primed for the next post.  Please, read these... these are real people and this is what is happening.  I guarantee you will be awe struck that you haven't heard any of this before.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day...

I have been so alone and sad for 2 years now... losing my livelihood, my identity, my body, my "friends", my income, my home, my insurance, and the most devastating...almost losing my baby boy.  I forgot how to laugh, I lost my faith in humanity, in compassion, friendship, and kindness.
I don't know how or why, but that thing greater than myself... the one I've been screaming at for 2 years and blaming for all of this, has lead me to this:
http://tinyurl.com/3z3ayep


How, or why... I don't know.  But, all I know is "he" was listening.  If nothing else works out for me, I know, someone heard...someone listened... and someone cared.  For absolutely no other reason than all of those things I believed to be gone.  Humor, humanity, compassion, friendship, and kindness.


To all of you that have reached out their hand to me and extended undeserved kindness, friendship, and care... YOU MADE THE CHANGE IN ME!


I will get up, I will get dressed, I will continue to fight!  I know now, all isn't lost and that there is still good in this world, and if there is still good in this world, that means there is still justice too.


Thank you... a thousand times, thank you!

Social Media: It's All About Making a Connection With People

Social Media: It's All About Making a Connection With People

I was at the end of my rope and considering tying a noose with it when I met this woman and her husband. It's funny how when we get to the edge of the cliff, someone shows up to pull you back. I've been screaming at the top of my lungs for so long that I thought I had lost my voice, now I find... I have a new one.

No matter how this side show struggle plays out in my life, I know that I have people that will lift me up. I never had to see their faces because their hearts spoke louder than their expressions ever needed.

This is what will change my life. My pain, my inability to obtain help or services of any kind, and my loss of self... well it is the condition. It appears I overlooked the cure. Friends, supporters, and laughter. Until I joined Twitter, I hadn't laughed in too long. I cried, a lot. So much so that my son put me on suicide watch. My 19 year old baby... would call me, then have his friends call me, one at a time all day long. He thought if someone heard my voice, he knew I was alive. My baby... he had to feel this way. How sad and selfish of me... but, because of this little weird 140 character bits of life's... has brought me back to my life. Not the life I was living, the life I want to live. I get to be happy and funny in that life. It has since poured over into my pain filled world and with it, the tonic of laughter and friendship.

Thank you... thank you so very much. Your 140 characters have shown me your character, and it is amazing. You have changed my world.