Guaranteed Healthcare

In 2002 I suddenly became sick with COPD, a pulmonary disease that caused me to be unable to breathe. It happened when I was away from home, and I spent one week in a hospital in Bakersfield, CA. Since I live on a very low income, and had no insurance, the social worker at the hospital filled out all the forms and helped me apply for Medicare/Medi-Cal.

When I returned home I went to the government office to take care of the Medicare and my bills. I was, after several months, approved for Medi-Cal and Medicare, but was denied back-dated coverage, and so the bills incurred at the hospital were not paid. I received notices and bills for almost a year from the hospital as well as from laboratories and other service providers who had cared for me when I was sick. I appealed to Medicare to pay them, but was denied.

Finally all these bills were listed outstanding and are on my credit report. I still get phone calls from collection agencies about these bills. Medicare and Medi-Cal are, I have been told, supposed to cover applicants from the time they get sick, but in my case they arbitrarily decided not to do so. It has been very problematic, and I feel badly for the unpaid hospital, whose personnel, after all, enabled me to be covered today.