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May 18, 2007

IGC: Seeking answers:

Single mom struggles to deal with cancer, no work

By Raymond Linex II

Ruby Hopkins sits day after day in her mobile home, laboring just to get around days after a mastectomy. She’d rather be working.

But she can’t. And because she has no insurance and no benefits at the moment, times are getting tough for the single mother of five who lives near Silver City.

“If I could, I’d just pick and go to work,” she said. “But I have this bag on me, and I can’t lift anything.”

It’s unusual territory for Hopkins, 38, who has lost her hair and energy thanks to chemotherapy. Since becoming a mother at 17, she’s worked all her life. She thought in times of need it would be different; she thought all that hard work would have built her some credit with insurance companies, Medicaid, welfare, someone.

She gets by thanks to her children, who range in age from 14 to 21, and from friends who help pay the bills and shuttle her to appointments. It’s not the way she wants to get by, though.

In June, Hopkins found a lump about the size of a quarter on her right breast. With no insurance, she called the American Cancer Society, and got some help. In the meantime, the lump grew.

She managed to stay employed at two jobs through February, when the mastectomy was finally necessary. The short-term and long-term disability she started after June was denied, she said, because her employer-based insurance deemed the cancer a pre-existing condition. She started the job in July.

Hopkins is still waiting on Social Security and Medicaid, and was told by welfare officials she made too much money in January and February to qualify for assistance. Sick time given to her by fellow employees at her other job only hurt her chances at help, she said.

Polly Winn with the local Social Security office said it’s a common story.

“We have 45 disability slots every week, and generally they are full every week,” Winn said. “And disability decisions are made by the state.”

Hopkins said Social Security told her it would take 30 to 120 days to determine her eligibility, a claim Winn said is also routine. But, in cases like Hopkins, where an illness is involved, it can be sped up.

“If it’s a situation where a doctor submits medical records right away, a decision can usually be made within 60 days,” Winn said.

So Hopkins waits.

There is no light at the end of the tunnel in terms of returning to work for Hopkins. She is on sick leave, she said, but not getting paid. She needs help just to get by, just to get answers.

A few weeks ago, a benefit blood drive was held in her name in Dawson, where her kids attend school. It will take much more help to get her through.

“All those years I was paying for insurance, and I can’t even use it,” she said. “... With our system, I didn’t think it would be so hard to get help.

“It’s hard to sit here and do nothing.”

—————

Raymond Linex II may be contacted via e-mail at rlinex@corsicanadailysun.com

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