Medicaid Viagra?

It's always good to hear both sides of the story.

Hi,

Pasted below is a copy of a letter I sent to the ACLU trying to get them to assist me in challenging Medicaid's eligibility rules and income limitations.

I read you're your article and I believe the media has the power to help enact change. Thanks for writing it.

I believe the current Medicaid system violates the civil rights of Americans who needs its assistance. I would love to bring this important health care issue to the world's attention especially with an election looming.

If you can help please let me know.

Best,

Brandon Daviet

Englewood, CO

303-789-2755

bdaviet@newdealers.com

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to in regards to possible legal action against the U.S. government, or more specifically the federal Medicaid and Social Security systems, and the income limitations imposed by them in exchange for program eligibility. I feel that the current system violates my right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" as guaranteed by the U.S. Bill of Rights.

As a person who has suffered from lifelong chronic disabilities, including a heart transplant and surviving thyroid cancer, I am without a doubt in need of the assistance of Medicaid stay alive. However the income limitations required to be eligible for Medicaid, especially here in my home state of Colorado, seem geared to lessening my quality of life as opposed to enhancing it.

In addition the eligibility rules of Medicaid and the Social Security System have infringed on my family's quality of life as well. Below is a list of some of the various injustices of the current national health care system, as I see them, as well as a copy of my medial expenses for the last six months of 2006 to illustrate the staggering expense of my health care. I am asking for your help as I feel it is a paramount issue for many disabled American's. I obviously can't afford the proper legal counsel on my own because of my income limitations.

1.) The Fallback issue:

This is my main reason in deciding to explore a legal course of action against the government. During my adolescent years my disability served me well. Like most youth I dreamed of becoming a professional musician, something I still engage in as a hobby, and like most youth I quickly discovered the high improbability of using it to sustain a career.

In preparation to have something to "fall back" on I completed a ten-month course, comparable in curriculum, to a B.A. in broadcasting and media communications (Costing about $10,000)I have also completed my freshman year towards the pursuit of a B.A. in Journalism at Metropolitan State College of Denver. I have since quit attending school because I realize that an entry level position after graduation will not meet my medial bills and support the cost of living.

Despite my education I realize I will be unable to pay back the loans that have financed my education thus far and it makes me feel like a criminal. In addition it is highly unlikely that any company would hire me (despite being legal or not) due to my pre-existing medical conditions. In addition even if I was able to secure a entry level job it would exclude me from Medicaid eligibility without providing enough income to live on and pay my medical bills.

2.) Creating Criminals:

As soon as I graduated high school I hit the bricks seeking a job. My first gig as an adult was at 7-11. I was aware that Medicaid had earning restrictions at the time but was assured by 7-11's corporate offices that because they were a huge corporation that I would be exempt from the limitations. What I've been able to deduce since is that the company was misinforming me because of the tax breaks they would receive from hiring a disabled person.

As a result, while I was sitting in the hospital waiting for a heart transplant no less, the government informed me I had earned more money than allowed by SSI rules and instantly started deducting the money they decided I owed them from my monthly disability checks. After I recovered from my transplant I was forced to devise a variety of hustles, some illegal and some that I'm not proud of to stay afloat.

I truly believe that because of SSI's income limits they are creating a demographic of Americans that often has no choice but to break the law to survive. As I reach my mid-thirties I once again find myself wondering what I will have do to survive because of the rules of an outdated federal system that has saved my life while subsequently condemning me to a life of joblessness and lack of self worth.

3.) The Golden Years

I not only worry about surviving today but in the future as well. Under Current SSI rules I am not allowed to amass any savings or property for future years when I will undoubtedly become sicker. When I was a minor my mother (My father was gone as soon as I was born) was subjected to the same draconian, archaic rules and was required to reduce herself to abject poverty and severely limit her income until I was 18 in order to access Medicaid and the medical care needed to save my life.

Although she is no longer subject to the income earning limitations that I am , this program has robbed her of her prime income earning years and the opportunity to have a fulfilling career. Life is a constant financial struggle for her now just to survive and help me survive. She has also been robbed of the opportunity to save for her "Golden Years."

What is really sad about this situation is that it is all due to the miserly monthly stipend (Currently sitting at 623.00 dollars a month) attached to accessing Medicaid through SSI.

When my mother was forced to turn to this program for healthcare assistance for me through Medicaid she was employed and earning a salary that was many times more than the monthly stipend delivered through SSI. She was not looking for a government handout but a way to save my life through access to an affordable form of healthcare insurance to buy. I was instantly denied coverage from her employer, The Levitz Furniture Corporation, because her insurance conveniently didn't cover me until 10 days after my birth. Because I was diagnosed upon birth with Mitral Artresia I was excluded under a "pre-existing condition" clause.

She was shocked to find that her only option was to quit her job, liquidate her assets and reduce our standard of living to beneath the poverty line in order to qualify for the only healthcare insurance available to save my life. What is equally perverted and sick is the fact that I survived a heart transplant and subsequent thyroid cancer only to be set on a shelf and denied the basic right to earn a living and pay my own way in life.

Again because of SSI and Medicaid's rules and the small amount of money the government believes is fit to live on my Mother and I have spent most of or lives living near and even below the poverty line. This has caused me a great deal of mental anguish and even thoughts of suicide and homicide. I have sought out professional help for these problems and am finally seeing some results but the journey here has substantially lessened my quality of life mainly because of an outdated national healthcare system.

4.) Psychosis

In addition to my physical ailments I have been also been diagnosed with Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Anxiety. Because Medicaid doesn't pay competitive compensation many doctors, especially specialists and those who have a wealth of experience won't see Medicaid recipients.

As a result it has taken me two years to find a Psychiatrist with the proper credentials and experience to sort out my situation. If Medicaid would allow me to earn an honest and fair living I could have paid for at least some of my own psychiatric and health care and avoided years of frustration, misdiagnosis and near death.

5.) Access to Health Care:

The only hospital that will provide me with a Primary Care Physician, as required by Medicaid, is The University Health Sciences Center in Denver. The hospital is a teaching hospital and I am often seen, especially in emergency situations, by young interns and residents that have no prior knowledge of my condition and are therefore aggravating an already life-threatening situation.

Developing a solid relationship with a doctor and having any sort of continuity of care, something that is crucial due to the severity of my condition, is extremely difficult because of Medicaid's rules and I believe is in many ways unethical and a violation of my basic rights as an American.

In my mind the legal question is should the Federal and State governments have the right to establish an assistance program that requires a lifelong existence in abject poverty in exchange for life? If so, where does the inalienable right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" fit into that equation?

Also, how can the Federal government dictate that the weakest and most vulnerable members of society live at a level that is beneath the national poverty level in exchange for lifesaving medical assistance? Without Medicaid someone in my condition is unemployable because potential employers fear the impact of chronic illness on their private group plans and private plans are non-existent

The current Medicaid system is a monster bound by it own red tape and is harming not only those who need it but the taxpayers that shoulder it's costs. I feel I have made a very compelling case to challenge Medicaid and the Social Security System with and I hope that you will consider assisting me with what I consider a sound legal basis to do so. I hope you can ascertain from this letter that I am not looking for a handout, just a chance at the same opportunities every America should be afforded. I ask you what kind of government spends millions of dollars to keep people alive just to subject them to a life of poverty.

Best Regards,

Brandon Daviet

3032 S. Delaware

Englewood, CO

80110

303-885-4736

bdaviet@newdealers.com