Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following was published in The Floyd Press newspaper on 11/12/09
Florence Rewinski’s interest in healthcare reform hit home this summer when she underwent an unexpected major surgery. Single and uninsured, Rewinski felt healthy one day, the next she was saddled with medical bills.
“I’ve had insurance in the past but it was cost prohibitive,” she said, explaining that while insured she was denied benefits for an emergency surgery because it was deemed a pre-existing condition. With a holistic approach to healthcare, her treatment choices are not generally covered as standard care. The high cost of insurance combined with lack of coverage and treatment options made health insurance unsustainable for Rewinski.
Not knowing if a large discovered internal mass was malignant or not, Rewinski faced her pending surgery with determination and trust. “It wasn’t about the money. It was about my health,” she recalled. Her doctor at the Floyd Community Health Clinic recommended the University of Virginia (UVA), a teaching hospital in Charlottesville, where Rewinski received a radical hysterectomy and the removal of what turned out to be benign fibroids.
An avid bio-dynamic home gardener who works for the Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamic Agriculture in Woolwine, Rewinski was denied medical assistance for her outstanding bill because she earns over $21,000 a year. Although she is grateful to have received “good caring service” at UVA, and has been making payments, it hasn’t been enough. “Because the hospital is funded by the government, they follow certain payment criteria and requirements to keep their funding,” she said, pointing to the possibility that her bill will be turned over to a collection agency, which could involve being served papers and facing a judge in court for non-payment.
Acting on a tip from the Laurel Creek Chinese Medicine Clinic, where she has received healthcare in the past, Rewinsky phoned the Commonwealths Attorney’s office to ask about the Medical Charities of Floyd County. The fund was founded approximately two decades ago by attorney Dale Proffit and past Commonwealth Attorney Gino Williams and is still run through that office.
“The purpose of the Floyd Medical Charities is so that churches and people can do fundraisers for those in need and run the money through it,” said Medical Charities’ President Sheriff Shannon Zeeman. Zeeman, who is also Vice President of Floyd County Cares, explained that donations to the fund are tax deductible and the people who benefit don’t have to claim income. “We don’t give money to individuals, we pay their bills. Donations can be made in the name of someone in need or to an unspecified general fund,” Zeeman said.
Rewinski learned from Jessica Thompson, Secretary of the Medical Charities Fund, that there was no unspecified money in the fund. Thompson suggested a fundraiser, which is when Virginia Neukirch got involved. “Florence is a friend. I knew about her health issues and that she didn’t have insurance,” Neukirch said, commenting on how many people today can not afford the rising cost of insurance.
A fundraiser concert to benefit Rewinski, organized by Neukirch, is scheduled for November 15th at the Sun Hall from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. It will feature a silent auction and the musical acts of Grace Note with special guests Sharon Feury and Abe Gorsky, Mike Mitchell, and Mountain Jazz with Bernie Coveney, Martin Scudder, and Tom Kingelhofer. Cost for the benefit concert is $7. “People can also donate directly to the fund in Rewinski’s name,” Neukirch said. (Medical Charities of Floyd County, 100 East Main Street, Room 106, Floyd VA. 24091)
“A lot of people have been helped over the years and you got to give the community credit,” Zeeman said about Floyd’s Medical Charities fund. Floyd Countians have a reputation for stepping up to help each other, Zeeman said, adding that “the fund is great thing for the community.”
Neukirch agrees. “Florence and I would like to make doing benefit for the fund our yearly endeavor,” she said.
Neukirch reports that the response to the concert to benefit Florence Rewinski has been good. She hopes that people will come out to enjoy the music and auction and spend some time together. “It should be a nice afternoon,” she said.