24 days in the dark: A broken fax machine causes a disabled woman to lose her caregiver

PLYMOUTH, Ind. -- For 24 days, a disabled woman in Plymouth said she lost the caretaker who helps her with her everyday needs, all because of an alleged broken fax machine.

Local advocates say they are hearing from their clients too, who say they have to send their Medicaid paperwork via mail or hand deliver it to get their benefits.

Charlee Ormanovich, who tells ABC57 she has been disabled since she was 16, also says she has chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, a rare neurological condition causing muscle weakness, among other disabilities.

She says her Medicaid was cut off without warning, and due to broken communication lines and system delays, she spent weeks stranded without her daily caregiver.

“I lost my caretaker September 1 when they canceled my Medicaid,” said Ormanovich, a Medicaid recipient for the past 37 years. She says she endured hardship for 24 days.

“My laundry wasn't done, backed up. Some of my stuff molded. I couldn't get up and cook food properly, and all my help was gone. If I needed something, they weren't here to help me get it done because it's too far up. I was depressed. I went through a depression so bad that I stopped my own medications. I stopped everything. I did not get up out of bed.”

She says her help vanished fast.

“My housekeeper, my aide to go get my prescriptions, everything. It was fast. It was same day, September 1. Everything went. They told them drop everything and get out, and that's what they had to do,” Ormanovich said. “I was mad. I was yelling and screaming, and I said a few cuss words. But yeah, and then I lost my skills coach because she comes. She's in on the Medicaid and the some of the therapies only Medicaid, and because my Medicaid was canceled, I lost my therapy. I lost my groups. I lost everything.”

Ormanovich says it all started when she went to the Marshall County Community Resource Center to file her Medicaid paperwork via fax. She says they never got the documents in Indianapolis, resulting in her losing her benefits.

But Ormanovich isn't the only one. K.J. Mapes is the president and CEO of REAL Services. They provide community-based programs for the elderly, low-income families and people with disabilities. Mapes says their clients are reporting similar fax issues.

“We are seeing people that are falling through the cracks because of all the changes in Medicaid. Right now, we're told that the DFR phone line is down, the fax line is down, so people are having to either hand deliver applications or mail them,” Mapes said. “Which, for an individual with a disability that might have mobility issues, age issues, caring for small children, doing that when there's one office in St. Joe County is really difficult.”

For Ormanovich, after calling the Medicaid office over and over again, she got her benefits back after 24 days. She is urging others to stick up for themselves too.

“Don't give up. We can make it happen. We just got to stand up together, and not one voice heard, but many voices heard about this matter,” Ormanovich said.

Earlier today, ABC57 faxed the Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning to verify whether they received our request. They confirmed receiving our fax, claiming there was a technical glitch and the line was down, but it is now back up and running.