Sign up for our e-newsletter.
|
| Back |
| |
Father of four needs financial help after Medicaid canceled coverage |
| Pampa, Texas, Sept. 18, 2009 – Reynaldo Wilson is fighting for his life. Doctors say a liver transplant could be his only hope, but Medicaid has canceled his coverage. |
| Contact: |
| Publish Date: 04:34PM 09/23/09 |
| |
Pampa, Texas, Sept. 18, 2009 – Reynaldo Wilson is fighting for his life. Doctors say a liver transplant could be his only hope, but Medicaid has canceled his coverage.
Wilson, 34, began experiencing health problems in 2008 and was diagnosed with a life-threatening liver disease. Around the same time, doctors also discovered a cancer mass on Wilson’s right kidney. His liver condition is so severe that he cannot undergo treatment for the cancer until his liver is treated. Doctors say he needs to be evaluated for a liver transplant as soon as possible.
A liver transplant costs more than $500,000. When Wilson began receiving Social Security disability, Medicaid canceled his coverage, stating that his disability income was too high to qualify for Medicaid. Wilson and his wife have four children, ranging in age from 2 to 14 years old. His declining health prevents him from working, and the disability income is barely enough for his family to make ends meet.
Without coverage, Wilson cannot afford the evaluation to determine if a transplant is an option, leaving his family feeling hopeless.
If Wilson receives a transplant, he will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications. The cost of post-transplant medications can range from $2,000 to $5,000 per month, and they are as critical to his survival as the transplant itself.
To help alleviate some of these financial burdens, Wilson turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance. NFT is a nonprofit organization based in Memphis, Tenn. that helps patients raise funds to pay for transplant-related expenses.
“We work with patients like Reynaldo every day, and it’s heartbreaking to see someone so young struggling with soaring expenses,” said Jackie Hancock, NFT president. “This situation is particularly frustrating because he is caught in government red tape. He needs the disability income to help support his family of six, but that bumps him out of eligibility for Medicaid coverage. At NFT, we’re working to help raise funds to assist this young family during the most difficult time of their lives.”
To make a tax-deductible donation in honor of Wilson, please send a contribution to the NFT
Texas Liver Fund, 5350 Poplar Ave., Suite 430, Memphis, TN 38119. Please be sure to write “in honor of Reynaldo Wilson” on the memo line. Secure donations also can be made online at www.transplants.org. Donors should click on “Patients We Help” to locate Wilson.
About NFT
NFT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Memphis, Tenn. that has been helping transplant patients overcome financial obstacles since 1983. NFT provides fundraising expertise and advocacy to transplant patients by organizing fundraising campaigns in the patients’ own communities. In the past 26 years, NFT’s fundraising campaigns have generated nearly $56 million to assist patients.
NFT currently assists more than 800 transplant candidates and recipients nationwide. For more information about NFT, please call 800-489-3863 or visit www.transplants.org.
###
|
|
|
