As many of you know, I am on Ohio Medicaid, specifically the Waiver program. I have been on this program since 2008, and it pays people to come in and take care of me. Since I got my trach in March of 2014, I have been on a specialized program for people with trachs called the HCA program. This program is a part of Waiver, and it pays people who have specialized training in trach care to take care of me.

I was supposed to transition to a new program called Passport when I turned 60, but they determined that they couldn’t provide me with enough aides. Instead, I was directed to the Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) because I have a developmental disability and was diagnosed before I turned 18. The problem with transitioning to DODD is the same one I face on Waiver, namely that they can’t provide me with any aides.

Before I got a vent, 99% of my aides were referred to me by the State. Since I got my vent, 99% have come from Facebook, and Facebook is not the ideal place to find people who know how to care for people on vents. Combined with the State not supplying me with any aides since 2014…that’s right, not one…and hiring people with no training in home health, I have had a steady turnover of people on my care team. This also means I must pay people out of pocket and is the primary reason I had to declare bankruptcy. For example, I have spent $1800 out of pocket since the beginning of May.

On Tuesday, I had a meeting with the folks from DODD, and they told me that they think I need 24/7 skilled nursing care. Effectively, this means I need to move into a nursing home because they can’t give me regular aides, let alone skilled nurses. I am fortunate that Waiver is still keeping me as a client, and I have enough aides to keep me in my home. Still, one of the ideal things about moving to DODD is that they have told me for years that they would pay people to take me to work. Waiver doesn’t typically do that. For years, the biggest single monthly expense I have had was for my aides who took me to work, so this promise by DODD was going to be huge financially. At our meeting on Tuesday, however, they said for the first time that what I had been told was wrong. They will not pay someone to take me to work. It’s amazing what they don’t know about their own program.

Without the expense of paying people who take me to work, I could have been able to at least absorb some of the out-of-pocket expenses for aides in my home and get caught up on other bills. Now that I know that help is not coming, I am in a financial bind, and the only way out of it right now is to get rid of my condominium, find a place to rent that is handicap accessible, and get rid of my animals. I could also quit teaching, take my pension, and try something new for a living, but considering the State pays roughly $228,000 per year to keep me in my home, I will be right back in the same predicament in 2-3 years. Keeping my job leverages a lot of money from the State, so quitting my job is not a viable option.

I would like to raise enough money to last until the end of the year/beginning of 2026. That will get me to my tax return and hopefully enough distance from my bankruptcy so I can take out a home equity loan on my condominium. I estimate the amount I need right now to be $9,000.

I know I have asked you for help repeatedly in the past. I’m sure some people are saying “there he goes again” to this request. My van situation back in January certainly hasn’t helped anything. But I need your help if you can give it. I totally understand if you can’t or don’t want to. I just don’t know where else to turn right now.

Another thing that will help is if you know of anyone who has home-health experience and is looking for a job. Waiver pays $26 an hour. You would think that the State could hire people when a job pays that much money. Apparently, they can’t.

Thank you!