A far cry from equality

Lately, I've been dealing with some more than pesky problems. I will start a little earlier:About seven months ago, I got some dental work done. The dentist told me I was going to need two root canals and two crowns to go with it. I apparently grind my teeth at night, which has worn down the enamel on the back of my molars. That sucks. So, I say, 'Well, how much is this going to put me back?' His reply, 'See the receptionist upfront.' Okay, this isn't going to be good. I walk up to the front desk, tell her exactly what he told me. 'Well, after the calculations, it looks like about 1800 for each tooth.' I almost choke on my paralyzed tongue. 'What?! Seriously? Well I don't have insurance.' 'I'm sorry, ma'am, that's the price and that's what it's going to be.'Okay, okay... I guess I'll just have to manage. \Fast forward about seven months. I turn 24, on top of getting older and feeling older, I am told my insurance on my parent's side is going to drop me. I no longer am a qualified candidate-whatever that means. So, I go to the H&W office to see about state assistance. I should qualify. I'm a full time student, single mother, I am unemployed and am surviving on student loans. So, I put my application in. I get a call a week later... 'I'm sorry, Mary, but you didn't sign the back of the application.' Oops, my bad, sure... I'll head back in there right away. So, I head in there and all of a sudden, they can't find it... Alright, I'll fill out another one. Fast forward three weeks...I still haven't heard from the H&W office. So I call...'I'm sorry, Mary, you're going to have to wait for the full 45 days before we can do anything about it...''Well I haven't heard anything yet... I'm just calling to make sure they received all the paperwork and that they didn't need anything else...''Well, you're going to have to contact ppl in Idaho Falls. They're the ones that handle the family medicaid.''Alright, what's their number?' So I call, and then they tell me my case is being sent to a different office. So I call a different number. Apparently my file got lost, but then they found it. They did however, find the old one, but since it wasn't signed it was invalid. Are you starting to see where I'm going with this whole clusterfuck?Well, the mayhem doesn't stop there. I'll save you all the details and just say that for three months I called, almost everyday, was passed off to different departments, spoke to incompetent people that all told me something different, that was if I was lucky enough to get through the long holds and anyone actually called me back from the numerous amounts of voicemail I left. I had the lovely opportunity of speaking to several people who were rude, and treated me like I was lazy, incompetent, no good for nothing trash because I didn't have health insurance. What a crime!! My case worker never returned my phone calls until I finally got a hold of the governor's assistant who handles complaints for the state. How I got that number I don't know, but it was the only person who took my concerns seriously.Bottom line: I still got denied for medicaid. Do you know why? Because my partner makes too much money. Do you know how much the maximum earned income we are allowed to make is in the state of Idaho? 317 dollars! Yes, that's what I thought. We're not married, but evidently that doesn't matter either.There are 220,000 uninsured children and 420,000 uninsured adults in the state of Idaho. What is this going to do?I know now why people try not to deal with the state.... there are about a million hoops to jump through, you pretty much have to be living on the streets, and when the mental and emotional energy exhausted in just trying someone to give you a straight answer is beyond frustration. It isn't right. It isn't right at all, and my my root canals still haven't been taken care of.I can only speak for myself, but I am trying to better my life. I am trying to do whatever I can to make sure Halle (my daughter) never goes without. I'm trying in every possible way to use the resources I have available to me and that I know about, but I am still struggling. And I have a leg up on so many people. So many people do not have the opportunity to go to college, or to have family to rely on, like I do. So many people have such a worse start than me, and so many people do not have the time or energy. I can only say that one of my most precious assets is my fight. I get angry, and pissed when people treat me like a pile of shit when it's undeserved. I fight back and I get mad. That alone has gotten me further than I can imagine... but it's hard to fight all the time. It's hard to not give up when you meet so much resistance... Health care is fucked up... It's fucked up that ppl will work their ass off trying to provide for their family, and they still get treated badly in every possible way, while others can eat off their poo poo platter and treat their obnoxious toy dogs to 2,000 dollar dog houses... (so to speak)What can I do, I ask myself many times... Well, I can't change the whole world, but I can tell people my story, and I can relate to other's hardships... We can be a voice collectively. One day I am going to be in a position where I can help others, and where others will ask for my help. This is one of those experiences that I will always remember...Alright, no more ranting for now.