My most memorable event as a case manager involves a young man, who at twenty-one had the world by the tail. He was going to junior college, working a job, and had saved enough to purchase a car. He was involved in a car accident before he purchased car insurance and was seriously hurt. To our dismay, he and his family had not updated his health insurance information. The policy was under his mother, and a co-worker had recommended they drop him to save money.
Joe and his family were immigrants and still adapting to the ways of health care in this country. The social worker and I teamed up and worked hard with the family to explain how to get the insurance re instated and also how to apply for indigent/medically needy services with the local acute rehabilitation center. The insurance balked at the idea of reinstating the coverage because of the cost involved; we also coached the family through the Medicaid application and the mountain of paper work associated with indigent care.
Joe spent approximately two months in our facility as we worked on the insurance nightmare. He worked his way out of critical care to a medical floor. As he reached maximum potential in our setting we were able to convince the rehabilitation hospital to take him on. The insurance had agreed to re instate his policy if the family paid COBRA as documents were provided to proof his full time status as a student. The rehab facility worked Joe three hours a day to re-teach him how to care for himself for feeding to walking.
This young man, after intense rehab, was able to walk out of the facility with help. He continued with therapy and the last report we had was Joe and his parents had bought a home in the social workers’ neighborhood and was back to being a “normal young adult.”
Every day for the last three and a half years the social worker has been able to witness his progress with mobility and memory. Joe walks twice a day by himself and speaks to the social worker without being prompted by his parents.
And the satisfaction we felt that we stood up to the insurance company and fought for the chance he deserved when everyone was “writing him off” was overwhelming. I learned that by working as a team a client can reap many benefits; instead of vegetating in a nursing home this young man is leading a functional life.
