Re: State of Maine cuts my home-care services from 13 hrs to 5 hrs; Appeal called in

[Greg Sterling <sterling@xxxxxxxx>]

Ivan,
Hope you have better days.  With the electon only 2 weeks from today, and so 
close, it's important to get out and vote.  Nader and the Green Party have some 
good ideas, but unfortunately have no chance of winning.  A vote for Nader will 
only hurt Gore and elect Bush.  Sad, but true.
Greg
48/35/35
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ivan M Suzman" <cureit@xxxxxxxx>
To: <PARKINSN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2000 5:15 AM
Subject: State of Maine cuts my home-care services from 13 hrs to 5 hrs; Appeal 
called in


> ^^^^^^  WARM GREETINGS  FROM  ^^^^^^^^^^^^  :-)
>  Ivan Suzman        50/39/36       cureit@xxxxxxxx      :-)
>  Portland, Maine    land of lighthouses         37  deg. F   :-)
> ********************************************************************
> 
> Dear PIEN friends,
> 
> DISASTER!! I am fighting a dangerous and vicious decision that
> endangers my safety at home. Please help me if you can.
> 
> The Maine Governor  , Angus King, can be phoned at 207-287-3531.
> I am the AUTHOR of his annual PD Awareness Proclamations.
> Please make him aware that my health and safety are jeopardized .
> by a decision made yesterday, and scheduled to go into effect  on
> November 1, 2000.
> 
> My case is stuck in the Bureau of Elder and Adult Services, BEAS,
> and serviced by a company called Alpha One, Inc. .  AO is very
> closely linked to the George Bush campaign ,and is very biased
> towards the Republicna party. Although I manage four personal
> care attendants in a  rotation around the clock, and do it perfectly,
> I am considered an enemy becaused I am a VOCAL patient.
> 
> THE NURSE ASSESSORS (Betsy Balzano of Alpha One,
>  and Molly Baldwin of the BEAS), put me through a 5-hour and 20
> minute non-stop interrogation yesterday, and used information selectively
> .
> Their decision is obviously pre=-planned, and in flagrant conflict with
> reality.
> 
> THEY CUT 8 HOURS OUT OF MY DAILY CARE PLAN . Balzano and Baldwin
> are tyring to eliminate  8 of my 13 hrs of home-care allowed during
>  each 24- hour day, leaving me wtih only  5 hours of home-care per day!!
> 
> .  They added that home-care costs  will not be covered, that for the
> first time,
> I will be forced to pay "co-payments".  There is no time allotted for
> "Off-periods,"
> no time for stand-by assistance when the commode (toileting)
> is needed, and I am being penalized for wanting to drive.  They
> refuse to  assist my independence, do NOT approve of my going to
> see sick friends in the hospital, refuse to allow as evidence the October
> 16, 2000
> neurologist's letter, which they have ignored. They allot times for
> everything
> from putting on a sock to eating supper, and have NO interest in allowing
> me toi eat at a  normal  PD pace, which of course is SLOWER.
> 
> They want my caregivers to vacuum while I am eating, to not sit with
> me and see what help I need. They are now supposed, to run water and
>  do dishes while I am eating 4 feet away.  They do not allow me more that
> one change of
> clothes per 24-hour period, despite the sweating I go through..Theu
> are trying to make my helpers feel like rats on a treadmill..
> 
>   BUT DO NOT DESPAIR!  I have called in to the Bureau to request an
> appeal.
> .
>   I have asked for help from the disability rights center and
> Attorney Helen Bailey has responded.  She will look at the
> nuses; care-cutitng decision, to see if a response can beconstructyed.
> 
> I will FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT and pray my was through this.
>  Molly Baldwin will lose her job--she wants me to take the 5 hours of my
> day care, transfer it to night care, and then leave me with no hours
> at all for day care. She wants me to find a way to say goodbye to
> Natalie, Julie, Tracy ....
> THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO POOR PEOPLE on the PIEN list
> who try to get home care and who refuse to leave home.
> 
>   Now maybe some of can understand why RAlph Nader
> and the Green party are gaining ground.  Nader and running - mate
> Winona ;laDUke , if you take the time to check everything out,  recognize
> that peo0ple like me are silenced and disenfranchised.
> 
> Ivan Suzman
> Young Onset Parkinson's patient-advocate
>