Earlier in the week, we received a tongue lashing from a physician at the California Urgent Care clinic. Due to the insurance health plan for this county not being in effect to select a primary care team. The doctor saw fit to strictly inform us this was our fault and they gave us a month's refill already and we should have had it handled; that they really shouldn't give Katherine her refills because a primary doctor should be prescribing it. Katherine has already had to be off her antidepressant for two stints since being here. This makes the third time we've ran into issues concerning getting her hormome replacement therapy since moving here. I believe, California claims to be one of the best places for transgender care. Although, that's not the results we've been seeing. I attempted to explain to the doctor that I had been on the phone with medi-cal and the county health plan office numerous occasions in the past several weeks to get the inter-county transfer completed. However, I was interrupted and told this is the last time this office would help us.
After three days filled with phone calls to the pharmacy, doctors office, and insurance office, we have yet to get an authorization for one of the four medications Katherine takes daily, that just so happens to be one of her HRT medicines. Since neither the doctor nor the pharmacy want to approve the prescription, today, I put in a one-time insurance authorization request for a nurse to approve or deny tomorrow morning. The continuance of Katherine's HRT rests on this one person's shoulders, that is until we can set up primary care. Yesterday we visited health and human services. Our case worker was extremely helpful, friendly, and patient. She lead us around the building to the different locations for our new benefits card, fingerprinting, and tanf. She walked us through the entire application process for cash aid, and was even kind enough to get a child support case going with the state for Jayden's absent parent. She informed us though, we weren't allowed to be mailed the health insurance benefit letters and would need to drive to pick them up. I stopped by today, while Katherine was working her lifeline shift. I was able to retrieve mine and the children's letters, but due to HIPPA, not hers. When Katherine went in, the representative instructed me to let her know she would wait and perform the same actions for her. When Kat got back, she told me the person had given her a harder time, even calling the supervisor down to approve the receipt of her own medical benefits eligibility letter. She was appalled that the staff member knew she was coming in, her name, and what she needed, but still made her go through all that, after her and I both explained she was in the middle of working a shift for a crisis line. Although we keep running into instances like these we press forward, despite how hard others attempt to make it, we are still progressing. Two disability appointments are set to be completed by the first week of April. We have a tee-shirt fundraiser about to launch and polling for the favorite shirt in our Facebook group "Two Trans One Van". We will have a link posted above when that begins. Not only can you find the tee-shirt poll on our Facebook page but also extra content, updates on blog posts, as well as conversation pieces. Please, if you would like to stay updated on the blog until we upgrade to allow subscribers, join the Facebook group, see the link above titled "Facebook". We are looking forward to some upcoming events. We are traveling this weekend hoping to promote the blog and fundraiser in more areas, as we've been doing. Over the weekend we are attending a resistance training, visiting a friend, and hoping to network with even more community members. If you are a reader and like what you see, please share our little blog with the folks around you. Thanks, Jim & Kat!
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Authors:James and Katherine are a transgender couple raising two kids. They were southerners when coming to understand themselves as trans. Ultimately it lead to a nearly three year road trip to find home. Now they are re-housed and still focused on outreach in the transgender community! Archives
October 2020
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