Morley Update 2012 #4

Everyone,

These last two week have been frustrating to say the least. The organization we work with changed our insurance this year. This is the third company we have been with since we started. While we are SO thankful to have insurance but when we make a change there are always some bumps in the road getting started. My medications for my arthritis are VERY expensive (around 2000 dollars a month). Because of this we always meet my deductible the first month. I am fortunate to have a card from the makers of Enbrel - my most expensive medicine that will cover anything my insurance doesn't up to 4000 dollars. The only catch it that they will only pay on medicine purchased inside the USA. For the last three years we have happened to be in the states at the start of the year so I have bought my medicine there and my deductible was covered. This year although my doctor advised me not to fly for 6 months after my Deep Vein Thrombosis, Kent and I decided that since my legs are better than they have been for years, it would be worth me making a trip to the states to purchase my medicine. Two weeks ago I tried to order my medication and have them sent to our daughters house in MA since that is the closest place I can fly. When the pharmacy tried to run my card they were informed that my coverage had been terminated and I didn't have prescription coverage. I called Cigna and explained what I was trying to do - order my Enbrel in the USA at one of their in network pharmacies so that my secondary insurance would cover my deductible. I won't bore you with all the details but 8 phone calls (most of which lasted an hour with me on hold for almost the entire time) and over a week later they finally got my information entered correctly into their computer. Only then did they inform me that if I was going to order Enbrel (I am supposed to be automatically covered for any existing condition) they needed a note from my doctor explaining why this was a medical necessity. Of course because of the time zones, the only time I can talk to them it is the middle of the night here so it took me two days to get the letter from my doctor here and receive approval. I finally called the pharmacy again and they said it went through fine but Cigna paid it and did not apply any to my deductible. Since it was Saturday, I could not get anyone at Cigna that I had been dealing with so I went ahead and purchased my ticket to MA feeling it was safe to assume this was just another glitch. When I called on Monday I was informed that my coverage was such that medication ordered in the states were just paid at 80% and didn't apply to the deductible. I looked online at my benefits and it showed a list of things I was covered for, one of which was prescriptions at 80%. Underneath it said "payment after deductibles have been met". I mentioned this and they said that they couldn't get everything on the website and I should have read my manual - which I didn't receive. I was told I could appeal this and ask that it be applied to my deductible so I did. I was hopeful that it would be approved since I had such a mess even trying to get my coverage started and since I felt I had been given misinformation about my coverage. After two more days of waiting, I received a notice that my appeal had been denied. This means that not only do we have to pay our 2500 deductible but that I have a non refundable ticket to fly to MA. Much as I look forward to seeing my grandkids this is not the time I would have chosen to take a vacation. All this left me feeling helpless at the hands of people who could just as easily (and at no cost to themselves) granted my request but who chose for whatever reason to say no.

Why am I telling you all this? Maybe just to vent - but more so because this is just a TASTE of what my refugee friends face every day. They make an appeal to be granted a red card, or asylum, or family reunification papers and then are left helpless at the hands of people who can make a decision based on nothing more than their mood at the time. In my situation there is money at stake - in theirs, their very lives and the lives of their families are at stake. "G" one of the young men who has become a Christian and is a great help to us in our children's program is going once again to spend the night outside the door of the place where they grant red cards. There are so many people who need help that unless you are there hours ahead of time you have no chance of being seen. Even if you DO get in, it is entirely at the discretion of the person you see whether they react favorably and give you a red card (which allows you to live and work legally while you are in process for asylum) or whether they deny it, which puts you in jeopardy of being thrown in jail if you are caught without one. Once you get a red card you must renew it every six months by this same process.

Dr. Joseph after two years of waiting for asylum is now continuing to wait for the reunification of family papers to go through. While he waits his wife and children must continue to live in hiding and fear for their lives.

"H" one of Kent's friends who has papers disappeared for a while. We thought maybe he had left because he has papers so we did not think he would be thrown in jail. He showed up a few weeks ago and said he lost his papers and was thrown in jail. He said he told them he has papers but apparently there is no way for them to check on this or they just didn't care.

In my situation with my insurance, I was left at the end feeling like I was just a number to them. No one really cared about me or my situation. That is how so many refugees feel all the time. One man I know owned his own car dealership and mechanic shop in his home country. His business was burned and the family fled. They have been here now for several years and everyday he goes early to stand in the square to find work. He used to find something fairly often but with the economic situation now he says there is nothing. "How can I take care of my wife and 4 children, if I cannot work?" he said recently as we sat together at one of our meals. We meet many people who were professionals and respected in their own countries before everything they had was swept away and they were reduced to being a number, one of the masses of unwanted people who are just trying to survive.

At Helping Hands we try to see people not numbers but it's not always possible. When we have no more tickets, or no more food, or no more room we can sometimes get tired of the constant pleas we hear for things they need and things they want. It's been VERY busy at the ARC lately especially on Saturdays. Last Saturday we had 70 kids in the kids room and the baby room and big room were packed. Sometimes people think that missionaries are supposed to be more caring, loving and giving than "regular" Christians. But we are human and sometimes after a long day we just want people to go away and leave us alone. Pray for us. Pray that even when we have to say "No" we will look at the person and not just see them as another number. Pray that we can find creative ways to say "Yes" when possible. Pray that in the midst of Chaos we can see that one child or that one mother or that one young man and listen to them. Pray that we will find the balance between hardening our hearts and feeling overwhelmed by the needs around us. We are so thankful to have a place where we can welcome people. A place here we can invite them to sit down and share a meal with us or where we can sit with them and hear their stories. It means so much to be able to have some of these people into our home and to count them as friends. We know that could not happen without you and your support financially and in prayer. Thank you for allowing us to represent you here on the field. We love you all.

Serving Him Together,
Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@juno.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
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