The system is really sick

Something that happened a few days ago has blown me away so much that it is hard to write about it. A friend of mine who was in his 70s passed away from congestive heart failure. He had had health problems for a lot of his life, including having had throat cancer which left him with no larynx, speaking through a voice amplifying device for all the 13 or so years I have known him. He wasn't rich, and the medical bills that mounted up over the years were an insurmountable hardship that left him little choice but to depend on Medicare and Medi-Cal to get the care he needed to survive. That's a reality that many of our older people must deal with, as well as some who aren't so old.

After he had died some other friends, including a woman who had some legal guardianship duties, were cleaning up his small apartment. The woman with the legal connection had called Social Services to alert them to our friend's death. Unexpectedly, a couple of employees of Social Services showed up at the door, and with little ceremony informed these grieving friends that they were there to take anything of value from the premises. It seems that when you sign a contract with Medi-Cal to get your medical care needs dealt with, part of the deal is that they have the right, as first creditor, to go through your belongings and take what they deem is worthwhile. They hauled out my friend's TV, DVD player, computer, and many other items which certainly couldn't garner much in the way of resale value. And without so much as a fuck-you-very-much, they were gone like thieves in the night.

Is this really what we've come to. The big business of health care, which saps much of the income and assets of our older population, is so powerful that these shameless people can gut the remains of a person's life? The other friends stood by helplessly as they watched our friend's belongings disappear into the maw of a emotionless bureaucracy. What will those meager items yield the State of California really? Will they actually be sold, or will some minion of the system sneak the DVD collection of classic movies my friend cherished to their own home? If there is a sale, where and when does it take place? What a travesty.

I can only say that if you have a friend of family member who avails themselves in a time of need of the services of this system, be aware that the same system pretty much will try to get their pound of flesh from you, any way it can. And clean their place out first!