Because I obeyed the law, the result being the loss of everything I have, this is the time of year I have to beg the government for food and medical care to stay alive. As I grovel for the basic necessities of life, the thought that predominates everything is the fact that if I would not have obeyed the law, not stopped for that construction zone flagman in 2018, I would not be in this situation.
Calling the state department of health and human services to be “interviewed” for eligibility is quite a task. The first time I called, there was a two hour and forty five minute wait time, I did not get through. The next time, I called minutes after they opened and was on hold for about thirty minutes. I am fortunate to have a phone with unlimited calling. Immediately following the accident, I was only able to afford a cell phone with limited minutes. This single call used an entire month’s worth of calling minutes.
Having already filled out an extensive application online, an interview is conducted to verify the information on the application. During a break in the questioning, I mentioned the nearly three hour hold time during the previous call. She told me they were overwhelmed with requests for public assistance. If you called after noon, you probably won’t get through. I told her I thought that was a really bad sign. So many people down on their luck, the state can’t handle all of them. To me, it was just another obvious symptom of the failure of American society. A twenty first century bread line.
This is a rural area. In order to have a good cell phone connection somewhere close to the local VA Clinic, where I go for an annual checkup. This usually takes a couple days, at least, so I have the time to think about all these things and write down what I see. It’s a beautiful area, but it is changing quickly and that is causing problems.
I get my health care from the Veterans Administration. Normally, I would not need care from the VA, but since the 2018 accident, I can afford nothing else. Since the VA is funded by taxpayers, all of them are being penalized for me obeying the law as well. There is a big difference in healthcare for profit and single payer healthcare like the VA. American healthcare wants you see you as much as possible, charging outrageous fees each time in partnership with the health insurance “industry”. The VA, with a spending budget, tries to keep patients out of the medical facilities to save money. More prevention and health management than cure.
The VA Clinic in this area is small. It is the only VA facility in a large, two-state area and serves a lot of veterans. The cost of living in this area has skyrocketed and there are very few jobs that can enable you to live here. The VA probably can’t afford to pay the staff of the clinic a living wage so they are having staffing problems. They no longer have a staff physician and don’t take incoming phone calls. The few people they have left, probably under undue stress due to the staffing situation, handle patients through the VA website and phone, as well as doing lab work and inoculations. They say it’s only a temporary situation, but could not make an appointment for an annual physical for next year, so…
America is disintegrating from the bottom up. Since I’m pretty close to the bottom, I have a pretty good view of it and I’m writing it down or taking a photo. I don’t know how much crumbling there is going to be until things really collapse, but I think it’s a matter of “when” not “if”.