Sleeping Some Again
Well, on Tuesday afternoon I knew things were about to change. I have no 'proof' but it felt like my body chemistry was different and I started dropping off while watching a video a bit after noon. Unlike the prior few days, such sleep seemed somehow easier to maintain and repeat so when I finally went to bed later in the evening, (once it had cooled sufficiently to start up the fans for the night) I actually did sleep fairly well. I got something like 12 - 14 hours of sleep total though I still did wake up a handful of times during that. At least I didn't have any trouble returning to sleep.
Last night wasn't as good, but it still was substantially better. It was a tiny bit harder to go to sleep but at least I felt tired and ready for bed. I seemed to wake up a bit more last night but overall the dreams weren't troublesome and I slept okay. I do feel rather tired though today. I don't believe I got much more than 6 hours of sleep last night.
I finally heard back from the doctor responsible for mental health drugs and she was neither able to talk to my primary care provider nor do the paperwork for CareOregon. I feel like I should be a bit more demanding but it's difficult when it seems pretty clear that she is overworked and I don't know if she gets any assistance internally with this sort of stuff like the County Clinic provides for clinicians. It's frustrating, but what can one expect when one gets to go to the clinic of last resort as something of a special favor because they can no longer charge the healthplan? I'm just waiting for CareOregon to say something like, "we can't pay for you to see this provider since she's not in Washington County (where there are no providers available who have experience working with HIV) so we won't pay for any prescriptions she writes."
Speaking of stupid people, the Dept of Human disService seems bent on fucking up my case yet again. The mess started when I called the Washington County Processing Center to request they mail out an reapplication for food stamps. (They won't do it automatically - they complain they don't serve enough people but they won't send out reapplications automatically). The agent was kind enough to tell me to call and schedule an time because I'd absolutely have to go into an office for a face to face (see if he's still breathing) interview though better way to explain the process is "we want to confuse things even more since we know you now do things the way we want them done so by going to an office where they will do it differently the likelihood that you lose benefits goes up."
So I called the Hillsboro Self-Sufficiency Office. But this office refuses to schedule interviews. I tried to explain that I needed to schedule transportation, that I was unable to sit around (or worse yet stand) for any length of time, etc. No dice. They had no idea how long I would be there so that made scheduling a ride with an agency pretty much out of the question. I tried to use "reasonable accommodation" and they refused that as well responding "then show up any day but Tuesday at 9am." Of course still no idea of how long it would take.
Luckily after some effort I found a friend who was free and she took me in last Wednesday. We get there and there is no parking so she drops me off at the disabled entrance. I have to press a button a declare to the whole world I'm disabled so they will let me in to use the elevator. I exited and am inside the lobby of some stupid office park type building with no office names on doors. Nowhere does it say entrance though some doors say things like "people we like only" and "don't you even think about opening this door, slacker."
Finally I find a directory and it says the Hillsboro Self-Sufficiency Office is in Suite 110 and I get lucky when I open that door though it looks like I'm entering a hallway with bathrooms and cubicles. I explore and suddenly find myself in a very crowded room. Of course there is no employee available to talk to new arrivals just a couple cryptic signs "stand here if you have a scheduled appointment" and "take a number". Hmmm, I guess I take a number since they refused to schedule an appointment, right. So I fight my way through the crowd.
After I get the number (09 and 00 is listed on the tote board), I then have to climb across the crowd to the opposite side of the room to get to two open chairs so my friend can find me after she parks the car. I'm sitting next to the copier so people are constantly banging into me which feels great given the pain I was already in by that point.
I guess I was there about 15 minutes before they called my number. I climb back across the screaming kids running around afraid they will go on to the next number before I get up there. I can't really tell who called me or where I'm supposed to go but try the only window without a poor person standing in front of it. I ask, "can we go some place to sit? I can not stand here at the window..." She looks at me like I asked her how much she charges for a quick handjob and I have to try and explain that I'm disabled, unable to stand, in pain (like the walk and cane didn't somehow indicate that I wasn't a track star) so finally she says, "how 'bout I get you a chair?" Finally, we are on track though the desk of the window now comes up at neck level.
I hand over the paperwork and she starts going through it. "You did this wrong, you should not have used the OHP application but marked that you want medical on the food stamps application..." Hmmm, I did it the way I always do it and used the forms sent to me by the processing center for the purpose intended, but of course they had to find something wrong. Then she hands me what looks basically like a job application, "fill this out." I again explain that I'm unable to work (like it doesn't already say that multiple times in the paperwork), have never seen nor completed this paperwork before, so why should I start now? Her response was a snide, "well you must be right."
I don't know exactly how many times we were interrupted during this process. It seemed that the woman in the booth next to her had to train the woman helping me how to help her own clients instead of letting her just get me taken care of. Nothing like constant, detailed interrutptions to insure quality work gets done. By this time I'm starting to shrivel up and hide under the window - the noise, they yelling, the chaos have been more than I can take. I've heard how the couple next to me are legal aliens and they have to schedule an interview to go to work and how the person on the other side, who I'm certain got there before me, didn't have a number before 11 so she'd have to come back tomorrow. She tried to tell them it was very far for her, ect but all the employee would say is, "each morning we go out and pull a number at 9am. We give appointments to people who have numbers before that and everyone else has to come back the next day..." That's quality service with the privacy touch!
I'm given a different piece of paper to fill out to say yet again "I'm disabled" and we are closing in on the end. She stamps my 'receipt' which shows that I did my face to face interview (in other words, that I came in to give them my paperwork) she staples it all together and says I'm done. I ask, "don't you usually ask for any more documentation other than driver's license and social security card?" Again, I'm way past her comfort zone here but know that in all likelihood the processing center won't be happy if they don't have proof. Still, I prefer to let them ask for stuff rather than try to second guess them and give them too much (or something that will get me in trouble since that's what really makes them happy).
I then ask what happens next and was told I'm all done, my paperwork would go to the processing center for processing, and I would not need to speak to anyone else (I had done my face to face 'interview' already) unless there was a problem. I then remind her that because of my illness, my paperwork should be 'expedited' (so I can go to the doctor and pharmacy in two weeks rather than waiting the usual 45 days for a OHP answer). She takes care of that and asks if there is anything else. I thanked her for her help and then had to yell across the room to get my friend's attention. Glad I could start breathing again, I made my way out of the office and was thrilled that my friend was actually able to get the car to the place she could meet me before I could get there. I hoped it was all taken care of and all I'd need to do was wait for the letters saying my benefits were now set to expire Jan 31, 2006.
But I went to the Hillsboro Self-Sufficiency Office so that was NOT to be the case. Late Monday afternoon, during one of the two half hour periods when I did sleep, someone calls and leaves a hard to understand message that she needs to speak to me about my medical. She gives me a number to call, says she doesn't have an answering machine but that I'd should leave a message and she'd call me back. After listening to the message 3 times I think it might be from a Karen. When I call the number left there is a message like "Mr Garcia is no longer at this number, do not leave a message, press 0 and leave a message in the general (office wide) voice mail." I'm not comfortable with these general voice mail boxes because I've NEVER had a call back from a single one at DHS EVER! I do the research and find that there is in deed a Karen at that office and get her direct number but get a message, "I don't work with clients, don't leave a message, dial 0 for an operator and they will tell you who to talk to."
So I'm off. I talk to the operator and she says I need to leave a message for Karen that I didn't check the box on my food stamps application for OHP and since I didn't tell them by the 15th that I wanted to continue my OHP my coverage would end at the end of the month. I then proceeded to tell her my experience of only a few days earlier when I came to their lovely working environment and left two applications - I had proof in the form of their stamped receipt... Well, "you need to talk to Karen," if she doesn't answer (like they ever do) then leave her a voice mail." "But I tried and her voice mail is pretty specific that we do NOT leave messages." So I was transferred to someone else's voice mail. I left a message Tuesday at about 8:30 am and have heard NOTHING back.
Nervous that I was now really in danger of losing my health coverage (and would probably NEVER be allowed to have it again since the program is closed to new enrollees and always under Republican pressure for termination) I called the Governor's Advocacy Office. She looked over the case and was concerned that even though through no fault of my own, it didn't look like they had my OHP application and even if I had proof I turned it in and the loss was their fault, if they didn't have an application by the 31st I'd lose my OHP forever. [Seriously, those were her words.] She wanted to make some calls to double check and she'd call me back if there was a problem (ie, no one could find the actual application). She didn't call back so I'm slightly more hopeful - that office has always been pretty good about doing what they say and solving any problem that doesn't require Superman or an act of fucking legislature.
She also said that she really thought it was important that I put my experiences in writing on one of the department's complaint forms so that the issues could be addressed. (Phone calls just don't get things done over there.) She felt that they had not done a very good job in helping me nor had they addressed my special needs let alone how they now had us both worried I was going to lose my health coverage.
So, now I wait for 8am. I will then start the round of phone calls and "do not leave voice mail" when that's of course all I'll get. I will just keep at it until I get to someone but at least I have the office manager and operations managers to talk to now as well. If I can't talk to anyone else, I will be happy to ask them the hard questions when I call for my grievance form.
The beat goes on.
Last night wasn't as good, but it still was substantially better. It was a tiny bit harder to go to sleep but at least I felt tired and ready for bed. I seemed to wake up a bit more last night but overall the dreams weren't troublesome and I slept okay. I do feel rather tired though today. I don't believe I got much more than 6 hours of sleep last night.
I finally heard back from the doctor responsible for mental health drugs and she was neither able to talk to my primary care provider nor do the paperwork for CareOregon. I feel like I should be a bit more demanding but it's difficult when it seems pretty clear that she is overworked and I don't know if she gets any assistance internally with this sort of stuff like the County Clinic provides for clinicians. It's frustrating, but what can one expect when one gets to go to the clinic of last resort as something of a special favor because they can no longer charge the healthplan? I'm just waiting for CareOregon to say something like, "we can't pay for you to see this provider since she's not in Washington County (where there are no providers available who have experience working with HIV) so we won't pay for any prescriptions she writes."
Speaking of stupid people, the Dept of Human disService seems bent on fucking up my case yet again. The mess started when I called the Washington County Processing Center to request they mail out an reapplication for food stamps. (They won't do it automatically - they complain they don't serve enough people but they won't send out reapplications automatically). The agent was kind enough to tell me to call and schedule an time because I'd absolutely have to go into an office for a face to face (see if he's still breathing) interview though better way to explain the process is "we want to confuse things even more since we know you now do things the way we want them done so by going to an office where they will do it differently the likelihood that you lose benefits goes up."
So I called the Hillsboro Self-Sufficiency Office. But this office refuses to schedule interviews. I tried to explain that I needed to schedule transportation, that I was unable to sit around (or worse yet stand) for any length of time, etc. No dice. They had no idea how long I would be there so that made scheduling a ride with an agency pretty much out of the question. I tried to use "reasonable accommodation" and they refused that as well responding "then show up any day but Tuesday at 9am." Of course still no idea of how long it would take.
Luckily after some effort I found a friend who was free and she took me in last Wednesday. We get there and there is no parking so she drops me off at the disabled entrance. I have to press a button a declare to the whole world I'm disabled so they will let me in to use the elevator. I exited and am inside the lobby of some stupid office park type building with no office names on doors. Nowhere does it say entrance though some doors say things like "people we like only" and "don't you even think about opening this door, slacker."
Finally I find a directory and it says the Hillsboro Self-Sufficiency Office is in Suite 110 and I get lucky when I open that door though it looks like I'm entering a hallway with bathrooms and cubicles. I explore and suddenly find myself in a very crowded room. Of course there is no employee available to talk to new arrivals just a couple cryptic signs "stand here if you have a scheduled appointment" and "take a number". Hmmm, I guess I take a number since they refused to schedule an appointment, right. So I fight my way through the crowd.
After I get the number (09 and 00 is listed on the tote board), I then have to climb across the crowd to the opposite side of the room to get to two open chairs so my friend can find me after she parks the car. I'm sitting next to the copier so people are constantly banging into me which feels great given the pain I was already in by that point.
I guess I was there about 15 minutes before they called my number. I climb back across the screaming kids running around afraid they will go on to the next number before I get up there. I can't really tell who called me or where I'm supposed to go but try the only window without a poor person standing in front of it. I ask, "can we go some place to sit? I can not stand here at the window..." She looks at me like I asked her how much she charges for a quick handjob and I have to try and explain that I'm disabled, unable to stand, in pain (like the walk and cane didn't somehow indicate that I wasn't a track star) so finally she says, "how 'bout I get you a chair?" Finally, we are on track though the desk of the window now comes up at neck level.
I hand over the paperwork and she starts going through it. "You did this wrong, you should not have used the OHP application but marked that you want medical on the food stamps application..." Hmmm, I did it the way I always do it and used the forms sent to me by the processing center for the purpose intended, but of course they had to find something wrong. Then she hands me what looks basically like a job application, "fill this out." I again explain that I'm unable to work (like it doesn't already say that multiple times in the paperwork), have never seen nor completed this paperwork before, so why should I start now? Her response was a snide, "well you must be right."
I don't know exactly how many times we were interrupted during this process. It seemed that the woman in the booth next to her had to train the woman helping me how to help her own clients instead of letting her just get me taken care of. Nothing like constant, detailed interrutptions to insure quality work gets done. By this time I'm starting to shrivel up and hide under the window - the noise, they yelling, the chaos have been more than I can take. I've heard how the couple next to me are legal aliens and they have to schedule an interview to go to work and how the person on the other side, who I'm certain got there before me, didn't have a number before 11 so she'd have to come back tomorrow. She tried to tell them it was very far for her, ect but all the employee would say is, "each morning we go out and pull a number at 9am. We give appointments to people who have numbers before that and everyone else has to come back the next day..." That's quality service with the privacy touch!
I'm given a different piece of paper to fill out to say yet again "I'm disabled" and we are closing in on the end. She stamps my 'receipt' which shows that I did my face to face interview (in other words, that I came in to give them my paperwork) she staples it all together and says I'm done. I ask, "don't you usually ask for any more documentation other than driver's license and social security card?" Again, I'm way past her comfort zone here but know that in all likelihood the processing center won't be happy if they don't have proof. Still, I prefer to let them ask for stuff rather than try to second guess them and give them too much (or something that will get me in trouble since that's what really makes them happy).
I then ask what happens next and was told I'm all done, my paperwork would go to the processing center for processing, and I would not need to speak to anyone else (I had done my face to face 'interview' already) unless there was a problem. I then remind her that because of my illness, my paperwork should be 'expedited' (so I can go to the doctor and pharmacy in two weeks rather than waiting the usual 45 days for a OHP answer). She takes care of that and asks if there is anything else. I thanked her for her help and then had to yell across the room to get my friend's attention. Glad I could start breathing again, I made my way out of the office and was thrilled that my friend was actually able to get the car to the place she could meet me before I could get there. I hoped it was all taken care of and all I'd need to do was wait for the letters saying my benefits were now set to expire Jan 31, 2006.
But I went to the Hillsboro Self-Sufficiency Office so that was NOT to be the case. Late Monday afternoon, during one of the two half hour periods when I did sleep, someone calls and leaves a hard to understand message that she needs to speak to me about my medical. She gives me a number to call, says she doesn't have an answering machine but that I'd should leave a message and she'd call me back. After listening to the message 3 times I think it might be from a Karen. When I call the number left there is a message like "Mr Garcia is no longer at this number, do not leave a message, press 0 and leave a message in the general (office wide) voice mail." I'm not comfortable with these general voice mail boxes because I've NEVER had a call back from a single one at DHS EVER! I do the research and find that there is in deed a Karen at that office and get her direct number but get a message, "I don't work with clients, don't leave a message, dial 0 for an operator and they will tell you who to talk to."
So I'm off. I talk to the operator and she says I need to leave a message for Karen that I didn't check the box on my food stamps application for OHP and since I didn't tell them by the 15th that I wanted to continue my OHP my coverage would end at the end of the month. I then proceeded to tell her my experience of only a few days earlier when I came to their lovely working environment and left two applications - I had proof in the form of their stamped receipt... Well, "you need to talk to Karen," if she doesn't answer (like they ever do) then leave her a voice mail." "But I tried and her voice mail is pretty specific that we do NOT leave messages." So I was transferred to someone else's voice mail. I left a message Tuesday at about 8:30 am and have heard NOTHING back.
Nervous that I was now really in danger of losing my health coverage (and would probably NEVER be allowed to have it again since the program is closed to new enrollees and always under Republican pressure for termination) I called the Governor's Advocacy Office. She looked over the case and was concerned that even though through no fault of my own, it didn't look like they had my OHP application and even if I had proof I turned it in and the loss was their fault, if they didn't have an application by the 31st I'd lose my OHP forever. [Seriously, those were her words.] She wanted to make some calls to double check and she'd call me back if there was a problem (ie, no one could find the actual application). She didn't call back so I'm slightly more hopeful - that office has always been pretty good about doing what they say and solving any problem that doesn't require Superman or an act of fucking legislature.
She also said that she really thought it was important that I put my experiences in writing on one of the department's complaint forms so that the issues could be addressed. (Phone calls just don't get things done over there.) She felt that they had not done a very good job in helping me nor had they addressed my special needs let alone how they now had us both worried I was going to lose my health coverage.
So, now I wait for 8am. I will then start the round of phone calls and "do not leave voice mail" when that's of course all I'll get. I will just keep at it until I get to someone but at least I have the office manager and operations managers to talk to now as well. If I can't talk to anyone else, I will be happy to ask them the hard questions when I call for my grievance form.
The beat goes on.
posted by xj at 5:32 AM
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