Bureaucracy=Idiocracy

My Medicaid ran out on December 31, 2012, and although I remain eligible, I am required to go through the entire application process again. They said it was because they didn’t have the correct address for me, even though their mailings have gotten to my mailing address in the past. Meanwhile, my impetigo festers, and the pain on my neck, and in particular, the back of my head, is increasing. No one in the government, including the Department of Health or the Department of Homeless Services, is willing to take responsibility for the dirty pillow that was provided to me that Dr. Akwuba says is the cause.

I was told to call a certain number to ask for emergency Medicaid in order to obtain the topical antibiotic, which is $155 out of pocket (the other prescription, for the surgical hand cleaner, turned out to be over the counter, costing me $12 in generic form). I called this number at 9:11 AM. After 10 minutes and 52 seconds, I was alerted that I would be placed on auto callback. I waited around at the pharmacy until nearly noon, then walked back to the shelter for lunch. I then took the train to Brooklyn College to use the computers, something I had not done before, thinking surely that they would make the call while I was on the train, causing it to go straight to my voice mail. As I write this, I am at Brooklyn College, it is 2:41 PM, and Medicaid has made no attempt as yet to return my phone call.

If my infection spreads to others, it is entirely the fault of Medicaid’s bureaucrats for denying me the necessary medication. I want to hold the shelter in tort for the infection to begin with. I will contact the attorneys I know separately so that it will look less like I’m fishing. When I was able to get only one particular neurologist on Staten Island, and not the one that my podiatrist really wanted to see, I criticized Medicaid as existing solely for the prevention of communicable disease spreading among what they must consider “the rabble.” Now I see that they don’t even care about that, even though I am never at the shelter except to sleep, eat breakfast, occasionally eat dinner, rarely eat lunch, and whenever I have a mandatory appointment with the staff, so very little of my time is spent amongst those they might classify with this concept.