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Help through unexpected lay-off

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Hi, my name is Angela and I suffer from multiple chronic spinal problems that has had me disabled since 2001. In 2004, I received a spinal cord stimulator implant, which helps with some of the daily chronic pain I live with, but I still also have to take multiple medications just to be able to function each day. May 16th, the company my husband works for, unexpectedly, furloughed their employees. It was supposed to have just been a short furlough, but it looks like it may end up lasting much longer than the employees were initially told it would. Unemployment benefits and the small disability payment I receive each month is just not going to be enough to pay everything. As long as we come up with what normally would be deducted from his pay each pay period for our health insurance, we will be able to keep that until mid-August when it will be adjusted and go to the COBRA rates and we know we can not afford that.

Even with insurance, the co-pays for my medications are going to be hard to come up with. I have already stopped taking them because we just didn’t have the cash to get them with and still be able to meet our other monthly obligations. We’ll be losing our vehicle and electricity soon because we are having to choose which bill has priority over the other and make due with what we have. We did apply for medical and food assistance with our county Jobs & Family Services department and was granted a small amount of food assistance but because we still have the medical insurance, we did not qualify for that. We’ve been told, also, that once they take his unemployment benefits into consideration, it will put us over the maximum allowed to qualify for benefits. And if I did, somehow manage, qualify for medical benefits, I would still have to meet a $2,000 a month spend down, that we would be required to pay out of our pocket, before they would cover anything. Even with insurance, my co-pays were sometimes hard to come up with, all at once, as they are $275 a month. Once we lose our insurance, it will jump to about $1400 a month.

I also worry about the healthcare of our dog, who has a thyroid condition. His vet requires blood monitoring tests to be done every 6 months as well as his daily medication. If we can not manage to come up with a way to get him taken care of, as well, we may be forced into making that very difficult decision to have him put down as I don’t want to see him suffer in the same way that I do. He and I both are nearly bedridden because we have not had the funds to get our medications.

As of this time, we have cut as many of our expenses as we can. We no longer have a home phone and will be having our cell phones cut as well. We’re getting rid of our cable/internet (a neighbor will let me borrow hers to check on things) and anything else we can think of that would be considered a luxury. We‘re waiting on the bank to come repo our car. And since we’re in disconnect status with the electric, we’re trying to use as little as possible until it is shut off to maybe, make it easier, when we’re back on our feet, to have it turned back on. We’re already doing without a lot that we normally would have, if he were working and I’m not sure what else to cut back on to make our money stretch.

For the last 30 years, my husband has been a hard worker and good provider and we’ve donated to many causes. If there were any possible way to get through this without asking for help, we would. But we have put our pride to the side and ask for your help, even if it’s just $1. Every bit will be deeply appreciated! Thank you for reading and for your consideration. God Bless!

Organizer

Angela Barnhart Scott
Organizer
Lancaster, OH

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