Post by SpyderLady on Apr 24, 2007 16:14:02 GMT -6
Woman Gets Letter Saying She’s Dead, Loses Insurance
Posted April 24, 2007
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A Seminole County woman was surprised as anyone when she found out she had passed away. Now, she’s been cut off from all her medical insurance and assistance.
Mabel Toevs got a letter earlier this month from her prescription drug company sending its condolences. She doesn’t know what happened, but until it’s worked out, her Medicaid account is cancelled.
Medicare and Medicaid officials cannot talk to Eyewitness News about Toevs’ case, because of privacy issues, but she’s literally put in a position where she has to prove she’s alive.
“I didn’t reach for the smelling salts. I just got angry,” Mabel said. Make no mistake, Mabel Toevs is still very much alive at 95.
“I feel uncommonly well to have reached that position,” Mabel said. She showed Eyewitness News a letter canceling her prescription coverage. “Medicare has reported to us the death of Mabel Toevs. Please accept our condolences,” the letter read.
“Well, it basically said she was no longer living and they were going to stop all benefits,” said Mabel’s son William.
William had his own run-in with tangled red tape two years ago. Born in the U.S., he showed Eyewitness News his yearbook after the Social Security administration told him he wasn’t a U.S. citizen.
Now, Mabel’s letter leaves them wondering if the Fed doesn’t like them.
“When I called my doctor yesterday, he came apart. He said he’d never heard of such a thing,” Mabel said.
Mabel’s doctor was able to confirm that she is still very much alive, now if she can only convince the government.
To prove she’s alive, Mabel will have to show up in person to a Social Security office with ID. She said she’ll use her driver’s license. It’s good through 2009 and she’ll probably drive herself, a neat trick for someone who’s supposedly dead.
Posted April 24, 2007
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A Seminole County woman was surprised as anyone when she found out she had passed away. Now, she’s been cut off from all her medical insurance and assistance.
Mabel Toevs got a letter earlier this month from her prescription drug company sending its condolences. She doesn’t know what happened, but until it’s worked out, her Medicaid account is cancelled.
Medicare and Medicaid officials cannot talk to Eyewitness News about Toevs’ case, because of privacy issues, but she’s literally put in a position where she has to prove she’s alive.
“I didn’t reach for the smelling salts. I just got angry,” Mabel said. Make no mistake, Mabel Toevs is still very much alive at 95.
“I feel uncommonly well to have reached that position,” Mabel said. She showed Eyewitness News a letter canceling her prescription coverage. “Medicare has reported to us the death of Mabel Toevs. Please accept our condolences,” the letter read.
“Well, it basically said she was no longer living and they were going to stop all benefits,” said Mabel’s son William.
William had his own run-in with tangled red tape two years ago. Born in the U.S., he showed Eyewitness News his yearbook after the Social Security administration told him he wasn’t a U.S. citizen.
Now, Mabel’s letter leaves them wondering if the Fed doesn’t like them.
“When I called my doctor yesterday, he came apart. He said he’d never heard of such a thing,” Mabel said.
Mabel’s doctor was able to confirm that she is still very much alive, now if she can only convince the government.
To prove she’s alive, Mabel will have to show up in person to a Social Security office with ID. She said she’ll use her driver’s license. It’s good through 2009 and she’ll probably drive herself, a neat trick for someone who’s supposedly dead.
