Corwith man on dialysis faces questionable future

[okarol]

Corwith man on dialysis faces questionable future

By KRISTIN BUEHNER kristin.buehner@globegazette.com | Posted: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 1:49 pm | (11) C
 
CORWITH - Dialysis patient John Babcock faces a questionable future following notice from his healthcare provider that he must pay up or lose his life-saving dialysis machine and medications.
Babcock, 42, received notification May 12 from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics that unless he resolves his insurance issues - he has none - by June 11, he will no longer be able to obtain dialysis care through the University of Iowa Home Dialysis Program.
"Basically they signed his death warrant," his wife, Becky, said.
When the couple checked at hospitals in Des Moines and Fort Dodge, they were told John could not receive dialysis treatment at either hospital unless he had health insurance.
John has been on dialysis off and on since 2008. He is currently on the dialysis machine five days a week for 2½ to 3 hours at a time. The machine is needed to clean wastes from his blood artificially.
As seasonal workers with the Teamsters Union, the Babcocks do not receive health insurance when not working. John, a truck driver, receives $963 a month disability insurance, but it is not enough to cover the health care bills he faces.
Becky, who drives a crew bus for the Teamsters, hopes she will be called back to work soon so she could have the health insurance they need.
Although John is eligible for Medicare Part A, it does not cover outpatient treatment. John has applied for Medicare Part B, but was notified his benefits wouldn't begin until July 1. Even then, his co-pay would be $250 a week, more than he receives on disability, he said.
To be eligible for Medicaid, the couple was told by the Department of Human Services they would have to sell much of what they own to reduce their total assets to $2,000, Becky said.
That would include their fifth-wheel camper, which Becky says is worth $21,000. They say they need it if Becky is to return to her work for the Teamsters on the natural gas pipeline.
The camper costs them less per month than staying in motels while on the road, she said.
The Babcocks also have two pickups: a 2000 Dodge Dakota that Becky uses to drive to and from work sites and a 1996 Dodge Ram 3500 that John uses to pull the camper.
"They want us to sell everything, so they can use the money to pay John's bills, and then they'll help him," Becky said.
They also own a house in Kanawha that's been on the market for years. Unable to sell it, the Babcocks are putting it up for tax auction in June.
They are living at the home of John's father, Lloyd, in Corwith.
The couple was working for the Teamsters in Bowling Green, Mo., in September 2008, when John first became ill. Doctors told him his kidneys were functioning at 5 percent.
After John spent a week in a hospital in St. Louis, including time in intensive care, the couple returned to Corwith.
They received training for in-home dialysis, which enabled John to resume working as a truck driver for the Teamsters.
His medical care was covered by the temporary health insurance he received through the Teamsters. Together with his wife's insurance, it covered 100 percent of his expenses.
John's kidneys improved to the point that, in December 2009, he was taken off dialysis.
After 10 months, however, his kidneys shut down again in September 2010.
John, who has lost 60 pounds during his illness, will be on dialysis until he gets a kidney transplant. He can no longer work.
His status on the transplant list is on hold due to the lack of health insurance, he said.
In the meantime, the couple faces medical bills of upwards of $80,000 from Iowa City alone to cover the expense of the machine and visits with his nephrologist.
There are other costs as well. Medications are expensive. Two examples are Epogen, which costs $709 for a month's supply, and Zemplar, $3,000 for a 30-day supply. "Right now, I'm out," he said.
Diane Wilson, managing attorney for Iowa Legal Aid in Mason City, said people on Social Security Disability (SSD), such as John Babcock, have a waiting period of up to 24 months to get on Medicare Part B.
As for qualifying for Medicaid, the $2,000 limit is a fixed rule, she said.
"And your countable income has to be pretty low."
She said John Babcock's case is not an isolated incident.
Babcock said he believes the current system punishes people who are trying to work.
"The new health care bill doesn't go into effect until 2014," he said. "We need help now."
PHOTO (below): Becky and John Babcock with the expensive dialysis machine that is keeping John alive in their Corwith home. KRISTIN BUEHNER/The Globe Gazette

http://www.globegazette.com/news/local/article_9ec79a7a-8bb7-11e0-9ed4-001cc4c002e0.html

[galvo]

What a system. Makes you spit!

[lmunchkin]

This is so sad!  I do feel this is the future for those who suffer this disease and can't afford it! Tragic is an understatement!

lmunchkin   

[Lillupie]

yeah I was told at my center that especially those who start dialysis and are working do not qualify for Medicare, their work coverage has to cover it. ANd some people's insurance do not cover prescriptions or doctor visits. If they quit their job, and go on disability they wont make enough money and only those who do that will get the Medicad and Medicare. The Medicare will not kick in for those who who are working for 3 years!

[okarol]

Corwith patient removed from home dialysis

By KRISTIN BUEHNER kristin.buehner@globegazette.com | Posted: Thursday, June 9, 2011 10:47 pm

CORWITH — Life continues to be a challenge for Corwith dialysis patient John Babcock.

Babcock, 42, was removed June 2 from the Home Dialysis Program of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, during his monthly appointment in Iowa City, he said Thursday.

He was told it was because he and his wife, Becky, who also was trained in using the machine, were not following program rules, John said.

One requirement, for example, is that Becky cannot leave John’s side even to go to another room during his dialysis, which lasts 2½ to 3 hours at a time. He acknowledged they have not followed that to the letter.

On Thursday, University Hospital officials called to notify John that someone would be coming soon to pick up the dialysis machine he has been using at home five days a week.

“It’s my lifeline,” Babcock said. “If they take the machine I’ll have to go to emergency rooms all the time.”

 Home dialysis would enable him to accompany Becky out of state when she is called back to work.

Becky expects to be called up by the Teamsters, for whom she drives a crew bus, later this month.

Meanwhile, John is also recovering from a severe staph infection that occurred at the site of his catheter, the port through which he receives dialysis.

The catheter was removed during his recent appointment at Iowa City.

He went without dialysis for seven days before a temporary catheter could be implanted June 8 at Trinity Hospital in Fort Dodge.

“He was overloaded with fluid and his potassium was high,” Becky said.

Doctors at Iowa City have told him he cannot have a permanent catheter implanted until his blood has been clear of infection for up to two weeks, which would be June 16.

The Babcocks plan to try to get John back on home dialysis. They have made an appointment with the Mayo Clinic on July 12 to look into it.

In May, the Babcocks were notified that John would be removed from the University Hospital’s Home Dialysis Program unless he resolved his insurance issues within 30 days.

The Babcocks have been without health insurance since their seasonal employment with the Teamsters ended in August 2010.

John’s kidneys stopped functioning the following month.

John owes the Iowa City hospital more than $80,000 for his home dialysis care and nephrologist appointments.

University Hospitals has since enrolled John in the Iowa Cares Program, an insurance program for people without health insurance who do not qualify for Medicaid.

The insurance provides help with medical costs, including prescriptions, as long as they are through University Hospitals and Clinics, Becky said.

“It helps, but if he has to go to the emergency room or something that’s not at Iowa City, that’s not covered,” she said.

John will also become eligible for Medicare Part B on July 1.

He will be on dialysis until he can get a kidney transplant, Becky said. He is not on the transplant list yet, however, because he has no health insurance.

The couple lives in Corwith at the home of John’s father, Lloyd.

http://www.globegazette.com/news/article_7a2289ea-9315-11e0-835c-001cc4c002e0.html

[Chris]

That seems unreasonable to have someone else sit with you all the time for 3 hours. This doesn't seem to be the norm on the boards and what's the big deal if they are just in the next room. A nurse at a dialysis facility could take longerto get to someone in a chair because they do not notice a problem if someone can not speak up.

[MooseMom]

OK, I'm confused.  We are all supposed to exercise "personal responsibility" and not rely on the government for any aid at all.  We are supposed to work and pull our own weight.  But this poor sod and his wife are going to be forced to sell the very vehicle that guarantees her employment so that they can pay their bills and not have to rely on the government?  They have to sell everything they own so that they will gain the privilege of being so poor that the government then and only then will help?  Can someone tell me how this country is supposed to be the "light of democracy" and the beacon of human rights?

I am truly appalled.  Maybe the local churches can help him.

(I've been feeling a lot of righteous indignation lately, as you can tell!)

[tyefly]

I was told that most can not do home dialysis unless you have private insurance....  and most can not get a transplant unless you have private insurance....   I was told that I can not do home dialysis unless I have a care partner to help me....  I was told that I can not have a transplant unless I have a care partner and that partner has to come to EVERY transplant meeting....  there are no exceptions....  So many rules.....  I do have private insurance because we own a business....  and that business better never fail.... at least on paper.... and I dont need a care partner to help me with dialysis as I CAN do it all by myself..( no big deal ) but I have to lie about that .. and tell everyone that I have a helper.... and with the transplant stuff I have to bring someone with me every visit....  I have to play the game...  and tell them what they want to hear....

I feel so bad about these people and others who are in the same boat..... I often talk with people who are in the waiting rooms at the neph offices and they keep saying that they wish they could be on the transplant list.. I then always find out its because they dont have private insurance....  I feel so bad....

 This country is hard to live in when you work for a living.... You need to be poor  or rich.... nothing inbetween... 

[Lillupie]

the private insurance thing really does not make sense to me.....
I have both Medicare and Medicad. Neither are private insurance. I do PD, not home hemo, and I am ON the transplant list. My good friend, who was a diabetic did not qualify for Medicare, so had Medicad alone, was given both a kidney and a pancreas all paid for by Medicad, and after 15 months his anti-rejection meds are still being paid for by the government insurance?!

I was told that Medicare pays for 80% and Medicad picks up the slack.

Now if you are working, Medicare wont pay for anything, if you are first starting on dialysis, for 36 months! Go fig, that is the opposite if you have a transplant, after 36 months they drop you. And your private insurance or if you are poor like me, Medicad picks up the slack.
But I do believe that the centers will love you if you have private insurance...
In Detroit, I think few patients if any actually have private insurance, so they are used to us having Medicare and medicad.

Lisa

[Chris]

the private insurance thing really does not make sense to me.....
I have both Medicare and Medicad. Neither are private insurance. I do PD, not home hemo, and I am ON the transplant list. My good friend, who was a diabetic did not qualify for Medicare, so had Medicad alone, was given both a kidney and a pancreas all paid for by Medicad, and after 15 months his anti-rejection meds are still being paid for by the government insurance?!

I was told that Medicare pays for 80% and Medicad picks up the slack.

Now if you are working, Medicare wont pay for anything, if you are first starting on dialysis, for 36 months! Go fig, that is the opposite if you have a transplant, after 36 months they drop you. And your private insurance or if you are poor like me, Medicad picks up the slack.
But I do believe that the centers will love you if you have private insurance...
In Detroit, I think few patients if any actually have private insurance, so they are used to us having Medicare and medicad.

Lisa

There is probably more to it about your friend, but as a diabetic and renal failure, I qualified for Medicare and Medicaid. Maybe it was due to the complications from diabetes I have, number of years I worked (worked since I was 14 at the time), or they do something different in your state. Luckily your friend got Medicaid.