By Samantha McLeish
It started with some minor dizzy spells. Then her arm started to fade in and out of numbness. And then she began forgetting the little things, like where she left her cell phone. Deanna Popielarczyk, 21, a junior at Northern Arizona University, was understandably concerned. When she asked a friend to drive her to the Emergency Room at Flagstaff Medical Center, she thought she was finally going to get an answer, and a treatment. What she got instead was a day wasted in the ER. She left with more questions than answers, and had only reaffirmed her belief that she was a part of a broken system.
Popielarczyk arrived at FMC early in the morning, spent several hours in the waiting room, and several hours more in the bed the nurse assigned to her. When the doctor finally arrived, he was kind, polite and confident. But as the day wore on, it became clear that he could not find a reason for her symptoms. After spending six hours behind the curtain of her bed, the doctor announced that she would need an MRI. Unfortunately, Ms. Popielarczyk was a member of AHCCCS, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and in order for her to receive the MRI, AHCCCS would have to review her file and refer to the “appropriate physician.”
Having dealt with AHCCCS for the last 4 years, Ms. Popielarczyk was used to this, and accepted it grudgingly. She contacted AHCCCS as soon as she got home from the hospital. “I just wanted to get the ball rolling. I know these things can take time, and I was worried that whatever was wrong with me was something that couldn’t wait,” she says.
AHCCCS told her they would contact her within 6 weeks with all of the information she needed to take care of the MRI. But almost five months have passed and she still has not heard from AHCCCS. Some of the symptoms have subsided, some have weakened, but the forgetfulness has gotten progressively worse. “If I thought it would do any good, I would call them. Sure. I’d call and harass them and get answers. But it wouldn’t do any good. Besides,” she laughs, “my memory is only getting worse, so by the time I remembered to call them, the office would be closed and I’d have to leave a message… a message that they would probably never return.”
AHCCCS is Arizona’s Medicaid program. According to their website, they are “Arizona’s Medicaid agency that offers health care programs to serve Arizona residents. Individuals must meet certain income and other requirements to obtain services,” and they “[oversee] contracted health plans in the delivery of health care to individuals and families who qualify for Medicaid and other medical assistance programs.”
AHCCCS may pledge to provide quality health care to those in need, but recent budget cuts may be responsible for the lack of care many have received, including Ms. Popielarczyk. A reduction in the state budget has forced AHCCCS to cut their costs drastically. Ms. Popielarczyk says it best: “Maybe they just can’t afford to provide health care for everyone in need. Maybe they can only afford to provide care for the people who ‘need it most.’ And maybe I’m just not one of those people. I mean, I’m young and I’m not in terrible health. If you have to take a risk with a patient, you’re going to take that risk with me, rather than with some overweight, diabetic 45-year-old with pneumonia.”
In order to maintain her membership with AHCCCS, Ms. Popielarczyk must reapply every 3 months. She has to fight them to cover every doctor’s trip and every prescription. “Nothing about AHCCCS has ever been easy. But it’s free. I might have to fight for it, but when I finally manage to get it, everything is covered. Everything is paid for. And realistically, it’s my only option,” she says.
