Open Letter to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, MD

Open Letter to Governor Bentley
October 10, 2014 at 12:45pm

Governor Bentley,

I need to go to the doctor. But I can’t. For some reason I still can’t understand you turned down Federal money set aside for people like me.

On June 24, 2014, on my way to see a doctor to determine disability benefits, I had a car accident. My car was totaled and my lip busted. I had hit the steering wheel with my face.

I still almost refused the ambulance ride because I was afraid of the bill. It took a street full of people to convince me to go. I had my lip sewn up, some scans done. I was sent home with a neck brace.

I have $12,000 in bills now, and my disability was denied. I am more disabled now than before the accident. I am waiting on an appeal with no medical care and no income. That hospital bill will never get paid. I wonder how many other people in this state are in the same situation. Sometimes I think “Well, I had a bankruptcy in 2010. Only five more years before the next one.”

That is incredibly sad for a woman who used to have a perfect credit score.

I have worked in Alabama since I was 16…. and didn’t stop until 2013, due to health reasons. I used to have the two-income life with the bells and whistles. I had everything I wanted. In 2010, my husband and his income left, along with preventative care and regular doctor visits. Not having access to medical care probably shortened my potential to work another 10 years or so.

Don’t judge me because I am now a low-income citizen of Alabama… That’s not all that I am. I have worked for the government, the media, in security and private investigations. I am a published author, an artist, and a musician. I am a medical marijuana activist and a Christian. I am a mother and caretaker of a son with Crohn’s disease.

But you see me as someone who wants a handout. You might not say it, but you do.

I just want a doctor visit and a chance. I am still a talented, determined and honest woman with a lot to give. I have a work ethic, morals, a sense of pride and loyalty. But I feel like my home state would rather let me stay unhealthy, in pain, without medication, or just dead… rather than supporting me and people like me who want to live productively and give back to our community.

Alabama is supposed to be a Christian state. Compassion is part of being Christian… or at least that is what I was taught. Instead, your actions tell us that we don’t deserve to be healthy.

Why?

Sonja Renea

https://www.facebook.com/notes/red-sonja/open-letter-to-governor-bentley/10152467931187424