As expenses for treatment of her stage 4 lung cancer mounted, Mission Village resident Carmen Vasquez, 78, faced an impossible challenge; she lacked the money to pay for her food for the month, much less her critically needed medications.
Carmen was spending close to 50% of her income towards the medications and supplemental vitamins that help her fight stage 4 lung cancer.
But Carmen wasn’t alone — Hope through Housing was there to support her.
Services Coordinator Christine Alcala, helped her secure a one-time allotment of $600 for groceries and medications, allowing her to focus on her health instead of her mounting expenses.
This support made all the difference for Carmen.
“It just made a tremendous difference and eased my mind a lot,” Carmen said. “The cost of everything is so high that without it I would have been in trouble.”
She also pointed out that this could become a trend affecting more residents as changes to Medicare are expected in October, potentially leading to increased costs. “Many of the supplemental medications, which are not prescribed but have shown great benefits to our resident, are not covered by Medicare or medical. For our seniors, even one new prescription, uncovered or not fully covered procedure, or a new expense of any kind, greatly affects them as most of them are on fixed income, and there really is no wiggle room in their budget,” Christine explained.
“Medical bills are not the biggest problem for the residents I have met with, as most of them are covered by medical. The problem becomes, especially for seniors, with Medicare, and their cost of share towards Medicare or the amount they pay towards prescriptions.”
The assistance allowed Carmen to focus on her health.
“I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude,” Carmen said.