# My Brother and Cancer (help needed) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410 "2020-02-23T21:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/21 "2020-02-26T00:14:20Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Well, good on ya for wanting to help him out. But there’s only so much you can do - and only so much we can do to help YOU with advice or suggestions - unless he can clarify basics. > > If he’s actively rejecting what you have done or suggested so far, then there may not be much sense pushing the issue too hard. And that simple fact is driving me crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/22 "2020-02-26T15:59:49Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Tommy was turned down for Medicaid, & cannot afford a lawyer for an appeal. You can look into the medically needy program for those who don’t qualify for normal Medicaid, it’s administered by Dept. of Children & Families. It has a deductible that resets every month which sucks majorly, but it also picks up all the costs from the day you go over the deductible. So if he was on say chemo that would eat up the deductible and Medicaid would kick in that day till the end of the month, including the chemo costs. I don’t run an oncologist’s office but we have had a couple patients in a similar situation, on the medically needy program, who are on physician-administered chemotherapy. If you are having trouble finding an oncologist, I believe Florida Cancer Specialists and Moffitt Cancer both take Medicaid/Medically Needy. Moffitt is in Tampa but they get patients from all over the state; Florida Cancer Specialists is ubiquitous. There is a fact sheet on Medically Needy hosted by a third party here: [https://www.myflfamilies.com/programs/access/docs/medneedybrochure.pdf](https://www.myflfamilies.com/programs/access/docs/medneedybrochure.pdf) To actually sign up you would have to contact the Fl. Dept. of Children of Families at 1-866-762-2237. Best of luck, not a doctor, etc, ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/23 "2020-02-26T16:15:43Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > There is a fact sheet on Medically Needy hosted by a third party here: [https://www.myflfamilies.com/programs/access/docs/medneedybrochure.pdf](https://www.myflfamilies.com/programs/access/docs/medneedybrochure.pdf) Actually, it looks like that is DCF’s official website. But they have removed the medically needy page and have an updated PDF. You can visit the Medicaid page here, [https://www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/access/medicaid.shtml](https://www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/access/medicaid.shtml) Scroll down to the bottom where it says “Medically Needy” and it gives a little information. There is also a link there to an updated brochure, or you can follow this link: [https://eds.myflfamilies.com/DCFFormsInternet/Search/OpenDCFForm.aspx?FormId=292](https://eds.myflfamilies.com/DCFFormsInternet/Search/OpenDCFForm.aspx?FormId=292) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/24 "2020-02-26T22:13:30Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > You can look into the medically needy program for those who don’t qualify for normal Medicaid, it’s administered by Dept. of Children & Families. It has a deductible that resets every month which sucks majorly, but it also picks up all the costs from the day you go over the deductible. So if he was on say chemo that would eat up the deductible and Medicaid would kick in that day till the end of the month, including the chemo costs. > > I don’t run an oncologist’s office but we have had a couple patients in a similar situation, on the medically needy program, who are on physician-administered chemotherapy. If you are having trouble finding an oncologist, I believe Florida Cancer Specialists and Moffitt Cancer both take Medicaid/Medically Needy. Moffitt is in Tampa but they get patients from all over the state; Florida Cancer Specialists is ubiquitous. > > There is a fact sheet on Medically Needy hosted by a third party here: [https://www.myflfamilies.com/programs/access/docs/medneedybrochure.pdf](https://www.myflfamilies.com/programs/access/docs/medneedybrochure.pdf) > > To actually sign up you would have to contact the Fl. Dept. of Children of Families at 1-866-762-2237. > > Best of luck, not a doctor, etc, > > ~Max > [@Max\_S](#): > > Actually, it looks like that is DCF’s official website. But they have removed the medically needy page and have an updated PDF. You can visit the Medicaid page here, [https://www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/access/medicaid.shtml](https://www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/access/medicaid.shtml) > > Scroll down to the bottom where it says “Medically Needy” and it gives a little information. There is also a link there to an updated brochure, or you can follow this link: [https://eds.myflfamilies.com/DCFFormsInternet/Search/OpenDCFForm.aspx?FormId=292](https://eds.myflfamilies.com/DCFFormsInternet/Search/OpenDCFForm.aspx?FormId=292) > > ~Max Emailed him the links. Here’s hoping. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/25 "2020-12-20T23:08:48Z")
Tommy’s COVID unemployed. But won’t take a grocery store job. Says it’s beneath him. They repoed his car. He says. I don’t know if anything he tells me is true anymore. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/26 "2020-12-21T00:24:46Z")
I am so sorry. This must be so hard for you. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/27 "2020-12-21T23:23:52Z")
I don’t know whether to help him or not. My Sister says he’s getting stoned, and he has a past history. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410/28 "2020-12-21T23:25:03Z")
And I doubt he bothered to use the med links above. Too stoned? Too fatalistic? Never sick at all? I don’t know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-and-cancer-help-needed/848410.md?page=1)