CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic allowed or extended many benefits like Medicaid.
Hickory resident Ellen Schaeffer said before the pandemic she had only Medicare. She said the confusion stems from the pandemic when she was told she was entitled to Medicaid.
"I cannot possibly be the only person that this has happened to," she said. "I'm not asking for anything that's not rightfully mine."
Schaeffer was diagnosed with essential tremors when she was 40 years old. Now at age 67, she said she counts on her health benefits for her doctor's appointments and prescriptions. Schaeffer said the problem is she doesn't know the extent of those benefits.
She told WCNC Charlotte reporter Jane Monreal that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services sent her a letter saying Medicaid benefits granted to her during the pandemic were ending this past March.
"Soon after I got this letter, I get a brand new Medicaid card in the mail," Schaeffer said. "That's issued (from) April 28 of this year to April 25 of next year. Why, If it's ending at the end of March, why?"
She received subsequent letters saying she qualified, then another that said she didn't qualify, and then another claiming she need to supply more information.
"I don't think the right hand knows what the left hand is doing. And nobody will talk to me," Schaeffer said. "When I lost it, I was fine, and I will be fine again. That's not the point of all of this. I don't want to be lied to."
A spokesperson for NCDHHS told WCNC Charlotte their Medicaid staff will reach out to her directly. The agency also reminded all Medicaid beneficiaries that they should work with their local departments to make sure the paperwork is filled out properly.
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Veterans may also be feeling the effect of the expiring enhanced federal medical assistance percentage.
Jonathan Fant, an Army veteran, said his independence is important. But the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently stopped its rideshare program, a pandemic resource that expired back in May. Since then, the 64-year-old veteran has been confined to his home.
The Huntersville resident injured his hip after a fall back in December of 2021. For months after, one of the benefits he got from the VA was access to an aide to get back and forth to doctors' appointments.
Then he received a notice in January saying that the aide would no longer be able to ride along with him and he would have to use a rideshare service. He did until that service was stopped.
"I can't lift the chair because I can't walk," Fant said. "I need somebody to help me lift the chair to my car too so I can go to my appointment."
Fant is on a fixed income, and said even getting groceries delivered to his home is putting him in a bind.
"Right now I can't do nothing. I'm gaining weight. I'm not able to walk. And it's affecting me mentally because I know I want my own independence," he said. "They suggested me to use Mecklenburg County, and Mecklenburg County is telling me my income is too high to use their services. So it's like what am I supposed to do, die? It's a lot."
A spokesperson for the VA sent an email to WCNC Charlotte saying, "VA-authorized agency home health aides also remain unable to transport Veterans to medical appointments and related destinations due to liability concerns."
The agency said they recognize Mr. Fant's frustrations and have worked with him on alternate options.
Contact Jane Monreal at jmonreal@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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