Saturday, December 17, 2011

Agitation and Worries...

Right now, I am rather agitated and yes, very worried and concerned too about what's going to happen to me in the next couple of weeks.

This all has to do with my Social Security check and how much I may actually receive when I get the next couple of checks or so.

Because of the amount of income I receive via  has been considered to be under the Poverty Level line, the state was paying my medicare payment. That is until the last raise Social Security recipients got about 3-4 years ago anyway. At that time, I got a raise that January but in April, when my check was deposited in my account, they (Social Security or the state?) had deducted $300 from the check as they said I was no longer eligible for the state to pay my medicare what with the increase I'd received in January to my Social Security payment.

Okay, I can understand that. There has to be a line of demarcation, certainly. But it sure would have been a lot easier to bear had they informed me first and given me an option to have them deduct what they said I owed in back payments -that $300 -by giving me a bit of an easy-payment plan, don't ya think?

I considered myself to be very fortunate in that my daughter and I live together (along with her two children) and as such, I do not bear the brunt of all the household expenses by myself but supposing I were living alone, paying rent and all the other bills alone, I would have been totally screwed to lose that much money in one fell swoop, for sure! Even making payments on that amount would have been difficult for a person on a very limited income -which Social Security is -but at least, it would have been easier to manage if folks were given that option.

A year ago this month now, when my Social Security check arrived, it was larger than normal and I got a notice that was because the state -once again -was paying for my medicare payment. Hmmmm. When did they change the rate for the Poverty Level then I was wondering. Apparently it had been increased but I'd never known about that however, I was not about to quibble with them as I sure could use that extra bit of money.

Now, about two months ago, when Mandy had to fill out papers again for the fuel assistance and food stamp programs, she of course, has to list my income too on her form and as a result, she got a notice that due to my income, we were no longer eligible for those two program and also, that I was -again -ineligible for the state to cover my medicare payment.

At least this time I did get a bit of a forewarning so I figured probably with my December payment, they would begin deducting the medicare payment again, but they didn't -much to my surprise.

However, Mandy had to go refile her papers for the assistance programs because they said there was an error on them and when she did that,  the case manager then told her that yes, the medicare payment would again be deducted from my check but that was an error so it would be deducted but then, would be repaid to me.

Oh really? And what's interesting about all of this too is come January, we Social Security recipients will also be receiving another increase to our checks. Considering the last time this happened, I ended up getting $36 a month less that I had been getting prior to the increase that time -which took me back to the same level I'd been receiving 3 or 4 years earlier! I wonder what I'll end up with this time around?

All this stuff -the way they operate with their deductions, their Poverty Level that sure as heck didn't take into account that over the past 5 years our fuel bill alone is more than double what it normally had cost and that says nothing either about the increases to our electricity bill that is now at least 30 percent higher than before too but what the heck do I know about stuff like this.

I wish there were some legal recourse I could take to avert these issues but I suppose the only way I could do that would be something as outlandish as contacting someone like this -commercial litigation lawyer raleigh nc

- to get any recourse -if indeed any were available! It would definitely be something that would be totally difficult to procure assistance to right this problem, you can count on that for sure!

Needless to say, I'm really worried about how much they are going to clip from my check, when it will happen and if, they will ever restore that money and make me "whole" again -as the legal term is used there!

Should be interesting although not the kind of thing I'm really very "interested" in seeing ya know!

2 comments:

Mrs4444 said...

That stinks, especially this time of year. The unpredictability of it is unsettling. Sorry you're dealing with this.

And if I don't "see" you before, Merry Christmas, Jeni. May you and your sweet family have a beautiful day.

CiCi said...

Sounds like you don't know of a way to get an answer now so you will know before Jan check gets to you. If you call Social Security would they be able to tell you? I know it is hard to get through to them but it may help you not to worry. I too live alone and live on social security income only. I hope you find some relief before the holidays.
Better to know ahead of time if at all possible.