It's called Medi-cal. Can you ask her WHY Medi-cal would not help her? If she does not know, ask her to call again and find out definitively why they cannot help.

If she is depressed, it's hard to be motivated to help herself. You are a kind aunt.

If she lost her job through no fault of her own, she should be able to get unemployment pay.

If Medi-cal can't help her, she should ask them what else would be available for someone in her situation.

Thanks for your input. She apparently quit her job because of stress and an abusive work situation as I understand it. That was probably a year ago and since then things have just been piling on. Yes, it is called medi-cal...I had it backwards I guess ! I live in Pa. so not near enough to help her. I looked over old emails. She said when she looked into it, she was told that to receive help you have to either have children (she doesn't) or you have to be an illegal alien. That really made her angry. As you said, when you are depressed, you need some outside help and you don't think clearly. I don't know if that could possibly be true. Anyone from Ca know? I guess I could try to contact someone there and find out. Thanks, Socks, for your kind comment. My brother divorced their mom and created a lot of emotional problems for the wife and two kids that extend to all these years later. I wish I had a magic wand. My neice's life is really a mess.

Check out these sites. Perhaps there is one that can help her.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-51,GGLG:en&q=who+is+eligible+for+medi+cal

My 47 yr. old brother-in-law who was out of work for two years, had no money and still lives with mother, broke his leg really, really bad in Jan of this year. He put off going to county hospital for 6 weeks. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I finally convinced him to go (I personally drove him there and waited with him in the emergency room). They took x-rays and were absoutely shocked at what they saw. His leg was beginning to heal, however, in the wrong place.

Long story short -- after many visits and further tests -- he had surgery to re-brake the leg. He now has a steel plate with 12 titanium screws permanently holding his leg together.

Total cost at Martinez, Ca. County Hospital: $0.
Total cost at a regular hospital: approximately $40,000/$50,000.

agnespuffin...thanks for the web info. I have been reading websites and information about medi-cal. It does seem like if she was 65 or older, blind, disabled, pregnant,had cancer, or had a child etc. she would be eligible. So far, I haven't had success in finding something that would help her but I am still looking. If she had an emergency situtaion, I guess she could go to an emergency room, but none of her problems , though serious, could be classified as emergency.

If your niece lives in Southern California, she can call the Inland Empire Health Plan at 1-888-355-2522. They have low, low costs for medicine and treatment.

She can also look in her telephone book under: Government > County > Health Dept. Her county might have a hospital which takes people without an income. If not, she can call the Health Dept. itself and perhaps they can advise her.

Good luck.

mar_cia:
some physicians/hospitals offer reduced/sunsidized rates for patients without insurance.
I was in that boat last year, and needed a hernia operation. The hospital I went to in Pennsylvania ofrered me a generous discount. This year, I'll be making them a donation.

By the way, you are a generous aunt. My aunt wouldn't care about me the way you do your niece.

Teaching hospitals often have a free clinic to train their residents and interns. If there is one near her, she might check on that.