News Intro Text
[Rio Grande Guardian, May 13, 2015]
Date
News Item Content
<p>[Rio Grande Guardian, May 13, 2015]</p>
<p>This week the 46 year-old sister of a co-worker died. She had had a treatable cancer of the uterus.</p>
<p>However, like most low-income citizens without health insurance, she had no medical home, and so she had waited to get medical help until her symptoms forced her to the doctor.</p>
<p>In March the pain became so bad that she went to a local hospital, which admitted her, not out of the goodness of their corporate heart, but because the law requires hospitals to care for those people who are suffering great pain.</p>
<p>With that admission, an emotional, financial, and terrifying roller coaster ride began for her and her family of whether or not she would be able to have surgery or cancer treatments. Everything depended on if she qualified for this program or that program. It turned out that she didn’t qualify for any of the programs. The doctor told the family he could do surgery if they gave him a $5000 down payment, an amount of money that they did not have, and so she was left to her fate, which was an early death.</p>
<p>In the end, it turns out, there was one program she did qualify for, and that was the County’s Indigent Funeral Program.</p>
<p>Before the funeral services, someone offered condolences to her mother, saying, “The Good Lord chose to take her to be with Him.” Her mom wailed, “God did not take her! She died because we did not have the money.”</p>
<p><a href="http://riograndeguardian.com/cass-my-colleagues-46-year-old-sister-need-not-have-died/">MORE>></a></p>
<p>This week the 46 year-old sister of a co-worker died. She had had a treatable cancer of the uterus.</p>
<p>However, like most low-income citizens without health insurance, she had no medical home, and so she had waited to get medical help until her symptoms forced her to the doctor.</p>
<p>In March the pain became so bad that she went to a local hospital, which admitted her, not out of the goodness of their corporate heart, but because the law requires hospitals to care for those people who are suffering great pain.</p>
<p>With that admission, an emotional, financial, and terrifying roller coaster ride began for her and her family of whether or not she would be able to have surgery or cancer treatments. Everything depended on if she qualified for this program or that program. It turned out that she didn’t qualify for any of the programs. The doctor told the family he could do surgery if they gave him a $5000 down payment, an amount of money that they did not have, and so she was left to her fate, which was an early death.</p>
<p>In the end, it turns out, there was one program she did qualify for, and that was the County’s Indigent Funeral Program.</p>
<p>Before the funeral services, someone offered condolences to her mother, saying, “The Good Lord chose to take her to be with Him.” Her mom wailed, “God did not take her! She died because we did not have the money.”</p>
<p><a href="http://riograndeguardian.com/cass-my-colleagues-46-year-old-sister-need-not-have-died/">MORE>></a></p>