The Government Red Tape Goes On and On and On………

Over the past few weeks, I have been keeping you up-to-date about getting my new walker. In my last report, I was hoping that we were in Phase 3 and would be getting my walker within a week or two.  Unfortunately, we are still in stasis, caught forever, or so it seems, in a sea of government red tape.

Two weeks after I last wrote, we hadn’t seen hide nor hair of my walker.  So, Mom called the physical therapist. Ellen said it had been approved, which was just a repeat of what she’d been saying for some time. Then, about 15 minutes later, she called back and said that the man at the insurance company had read the wrong case file, and my walker had not yet been approved.  Mom was absolutely livid by this point, so she looked up the number for the insurance company and called them.

After going through the automated maze, which is customer service, she finally heard a human voice, which yet again put her on hold to transfer her to the correct department. However, by the time she was transferred, she got a recording that said the company was now closed. She left a message, and then we waited, and waited, and waited.  

After about three days with no response, Mom called the insurance company back. We finally reached the correct department, which for a change was open, and voila! Mom was told that the shower chair had been approved. “What shower chair?” mom and I exclaimed at the same time. After further investigation, we figured out that the shower chair in question was one ordered in 2001, after I had my CP surgery.  It was large and cumbersome, and I loathed it.  Eventually, it was put in the darkest corner of our storage shed, and I took showers standing up, holding on to a bar mom got installed.

After a long silence, punctuated only with the tapping of keys on a keyboard, it was confirmed that yes, a walker with swivel wheels had indeed been approved. “So where is it?” Mom inquired.  The lady told us she would have to check into it and would call us back. Wonder of wonders—she did! Apparently, the walker had been approved, but only recently. She gave us the number of the company that had been contracted to supply the walker, and the name of the contact person.  

When mom called the supplier, they confirmed that yes, indeed, the walker had been approved.  However, since the approval was so recent, they had just ordered it. They said they would make a note to contact us as soon as it came in. And so now, here I am—waiting, and waiting while summer passes me by, waiting while my muscles slowly turn to mush, waiting while the bureaucracy continues.

Because of the long wait and red tape, many of the people I’ve spoken with buy their own walkers and wheelchairs online. Many of them work and cannot wait two to three or even six months for their mode of transportation.  Many of them order their necessary conveyances, have them shipped priority mail, and go on with their daily lives. These devices range from walkers to electric wheelchairs which can cost anywhere from $400 to $2,000. I asked them how they managed to keep that much money put back in case they needed equipment, and they said they just budget and save, depositing a certain amount into their account each month. That’s what I plan to do when I’m on my own.

It is sad that our health care system is so ill-equipped to serve this country’s needs.  In my opinion, one of the top priorities of whoever is elected President is to completely overhaul the health care system. We must find some better way to adequately serve our population.