Boingo

FROM VERONICA DELACRUZ for her brother Eric: MySpace.com Blogs - HeyKim MySpace Blog
Please send this to as many people as possible: the White House, Congress and your local Congressperson, UCLA Transplant Center, Governer Schwarzenegger, Health and Human Services Sec Kathleen Sebelius, and anyone else you can think of.

Veronica De La Cruz is trying to get lifesaving health treatment in the way of a heart transplant for her little brother, ERIC DE LA CRUZ, who is 27 years old and in the hospital. The doctors are telling her that they don't have time anymore and need to do something immediately. They are saying something needs to happen for him now.

To give you some background ... he has Severe Dilated Cardiomyopathy with an EF of 15%. His kidneys are having trouble because of his heart. His creatinine levels are high, his blood pressure is very low and he keeps retaining fluid. The diuretic-type meds the doctors have him on are no longer working (Lasix, Dijoxin, Aldactone, Coreg, etc). He is currently on three different IV's.

He has been turned down for the heart transplant list because he is on Nevada Medicaid, only accepted in the state where he lives, and there are no transplant centers there. AGAIN -- THERE ARE NO TRANSPLANT CENTERS IN THE ONLY STATE HE HAS INSURANCE IN.

California would be the closest, but they only accept Medi-Cal and Medicare, which he doesn't have.

His Medicare disability insurance has been rejected twice and we are appealing again.

He is on the list for the court to hear his case in Las Vegas, but his hearing is scheduled for one year from now and he doesn't have that kind of time. He has been sick for 5 years now with an EF of 15%.

Doctors are telling family to take him to the ER in California and see if they can just have him admitted, maybe they won't turn him away.
They say they can no longer help him where he is now.

The system is making it difficult if not impossible to get him the help he needs. Veronica has been on and off the phone with doctors, lawyers, you name it, and is so frustrated and disheartened.

We are appealing to you, those in postions of helping in this matter, to contact Veronica and Eric, to help save his life with the treatment he needs and DESERVES.

It is NOT yet too late. Please act now to remedy this situation.

Sincerely,

Edit your name in here

******************** ******************** ******************

This is one of my best friends and a great guy.... please help if you can. This message is from Eric Cruz, 27 needs a heart transplant NEVADA REFUSES! - PEACE4 THE MISSING

Boingo

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS --


Yesterday we petitioned Senator Reid and Governor Gibbons and GOT A PHONE CALL IN RETURN! Governor Gibbons office said they received hundreds of emails (BECAUSE OF YOU). But they also said that we must petition Reid and the Representative for Eric's district, Dina Titus.


Please cut and paste the letter below into an email here for Titus:
https://forms.house.gov/titus/contact-form.shtml, here for Reid: E-mail Senator Reid sign it at the bottom and forward it to as many people as you can. Use the same email, just make sure you take out the contact info for Titus.


I've also gotten the person who has set up a fansite Veronica De La Cruz for me to help me use that site for Eric. We are collecting donations for his heart transplant. If we can raise $150,000 then we can set up a trust fund to get him on that list. We have only had that button up for 6 hours and have already raised $335. PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO THE CAUSE AND HELP ME SAVE MY BROTHERS LIFE!!!! Think about all the charities we donate to (PETA etc) and think about how this one will go to directly saving someone's life who is still here with us....someone who is living, breathing and hoping to see tomorrow.
EVERY PENNY COUNTS.


Thank you so much!


Love,


Veronica
******************** ******************** ********LETTER FOR DINA TITUS*************** ******************** ******************** ***
Congresswoman Dina Titus
Http://Titus.House.Gov
319 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
E-Mail: https://forms.house.gov/titus/contact-form.shtml
Tel. (202) 225-3252
(702) 387-4941

Re: Eric De La Cruz

Dear Congresswoman Titus:

I am sending this letter on behalf of Eric De La Cruz, a 27 year old young man languishing in a Henderson, NV, hospital in dire need of a heart transplant as a consequence of severe dilated cardiomyopathy (see <http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec03/ch026/ch026b.html> for more information). He is a Nevada Medicaid recipient; however, as you may well know, not only has Nevada discontinued and/or severely limited benefits to Medicaid recipients due to cuts in funding, but it also does not have a transplant center. Because this is obviously a pre-existing condition, his family cannot purchase health insurance for him, nor can they afford to pay the costs associated with a heart transplant and all the post-operative care and medication Eric will require for the rest of his life. Therefore, Eric’s only hope for a transplant rests with his disability claim pending with the Social Security Administration (SSA).

In Eric’s case, he satisfies the criteria listed in 20 CFR Pt. 404, Subpt. P, App. 1 relating to congestive heart failure. Of particular note is that an EF of 30% or less measured during a period of stability is one of the criteria for presumptive eligibility for disability insurance benefits. Eric De La Cruz has had an EF of 15% . . . for 5 years. As the Merck page cited above indicates, “[a]bout 70% of people die within 5 years of when their symptoms begin.”

Despite overwhelming evidence establishing that he is presumptively entitled to disability benefits pursuant to 20 CFR Part 404, Subpart P, Appendix 1 (relative to chronic heart failure), the SSA denied his claim, his request for reconsideration, and did not schedule his hearing before an ALJ until [insert date]. In addition to the foregoing, he is also entitled to disability benefits under the Presumptive Disability Criteria because he is confined to a bed (on three IVs) due to his longstanding condition. See DI 23535.005, available at <http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/links/0423535005>. Most significant is that Eric is entitled to expedited review and presumptive benefits for having terminal illness pursuant to POMS Section DI 11005.601 (providing a TERI (terminal illness) designation applies to cases where the patient is “[a]waiting a heart . . . transplant). See DI 11005.601, available at <http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/links/0411005601>. Eric’s doctors have advised that he cannot wait a year for a heart transplant, thereby triggering a myriad of expedited review, processing and payment regulations. The list of expedited review and payment provisions applicable to Eric could go on ad nauseum (e.g., QDD, Compassionate Allowance, and Emergency Advance Payment (EAP) and Immediate Payment provisions);however, the regulations cited in this letter are sufficient to warrant a congressional inquiry.

Additionally, given the failure of the Las Vegas Hearings Office’s processing of hearing requests to properly review this information and conduct the requisite expedited claims processing and/or review, I urge you to refer this matter to the Office of Inspector General pursuant to the Inspector General Act (IGA), as amended (5 U.S.C.A. app. 5, §1, et. seq.). The IGA’s stated goal of combating inefficiency in government is plainly satisfied here, where the SSA denied disability benefits to someone presumptively entitled to those benefits under the SSA’s own regulations. Indeed, this case epitomizes government inefficiency, for the very provisions designed to help young citizens like Eric—confined to hospital beds awaiting heart transplants—from needless pain, financial devastation, and suffering have been completely ignored by SSA.

The power to save young Eric’s life now lies in your hands. Please do not sit idly by.

Izaiah

Hello! I am touched by this. Let us hope for the best to happen soon.

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Izaiah

Tricto

Bump...I'm no political scientist, but nobody should have to die over some red tape, what kind of world wouldn't make an exception for something as simple and easy to fix as this?

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Human rights went on vacation
Money took over a long time ago...

Cuando la historia no se puede escribir con la pluma, se escribe con el fusil