Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

It's always something-- I don't see that Social Security covers loads of "peripheral benefits". It has a spouse + dependent child survivorship provision which applies to prematurely deceased workers who were covered by FICA during their employment. Medicaid is the program most likely to be exploited & incur costs for specialized treatment like kidney dialysis. Immigrants from poorer countries may bring relatives here under the premise of family reunification-- in order to get them dialysis, surgery, etc. This I have heard from church-based social workers. I just spoke to one of them who says it's a lot harder now to get Social Security disability than it used to be. I believe this is true because the 22 yr-old son of a longtime friend of mine applied for it after being hit by a car & sustaining a skull fracture that resulted in epileptic seizures preventing his entry to the workforce; it took 2 yrs for his case to get approval. / Old Hat (32 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)