Last May 2015 my husband and I had a major car accident on Interstate 80 near the mixmaster in Des Moines. I had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2010 and had become a speed walker and runner in 5K runs.
We had appeared fine immediately after the accident but I developed some new problems after a few days. After talking to Social Security they advised me to retire at age 64 and get my own health insurance. I was grateful for this advice because I would have lost my Medicaid anyway.
Because we would have lost our medical anyway because we went over the federal poverty level income for Medicaid. So in January 2016 when I retired we got our own health insurance. Meanwhile, they diagnosed post-concussion syndrome in February 2016 but my insurance had changed by this time so there were problems getting the care that I needed and I was required to look elsewhere for financial help. I found Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa and had a case worker assigned and support group that I could at tend free of charge. Then after a trip to the emergency room at Skiff here in town I discovered financial assistance was available for physical therapy and other needs which my current insurance company will not cover because I am out of network.
Having done volunteer work all over Newton in many different organizations throughout the years has helped me find some resources which I couldn’t have found otherwise. Hopefully things will get back to normal eventually and I will be back doing my 5K runs again. And my Medicare benefits will begin in a few months so things will be considerably easier.
Sue Anderson
Newton