My father, Cecil,  was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, two years ago. He was not prepared and didn't have a life insurance policy in place. He continued to work for a year after his diagnosis, but he eventually had to retire as the illness progressed. He was not eligible for his medicare benefits until six months after he left work so he was left without medical insurance during that time. He had no choice but to purchase a lot of his medical equipment out of pocket, as well as continue to pay his mortgage. His savings were depleted by the end of the six months. He recently elected to go in to hospice treatment after a debilitating bout of Pneumonia left him hospitalized for over a week. He was approved for a Tobii DynaVox device that uses an eye tracker to help him communicate as his ability to speak is fading. His approval came a few days after coming home from the hospital after several weeks of waiting. This device would only cost him $700.00 out of his pocket and insurance would cover the rest. Hospice assured him that since he was approved for the Tobii, he could go ahead and start hospice care and it wouldn't affect his Tobii device being shipped. As the medical bills pile up, he is now the victim of a tragic and costly miscommunication between medicare providers. He received Tobii approval on Friday and began hospice the next day. Going on hospice changed his insurance from United Healthcare to straight Medicare and Medicare doesn't cover the Tobii. The miscommunication is that the Tobii would have had to ship for United Healthcare to cover the majority of the cost. The new cost of the Tobii is $2,953.00. Our goal is to help alleviate as much of this financial burden for Cecil as possible. Help us give him a voice!  Any and all help is appreciated!