Argh. I’ve been trying to make an appointment with someone, anyone, to get my ears checked out today. There are all sorts of programs for pregnant chicks, people with STDs, refugees and homeless people, kids with weird diseases and the like, but there are very few resources for regular people with jobs who are going deaf.

I called the Mass Care health people; it’s a state program to provide insurance to low-income people (I actually qualify, even though I make 250% of the National Poverty Level!), but it would probably take several weeks to get my application and stuff straightened out and by then I’d probably have insurance from my job.

The MassCare people referred me to the Health Safety Net, which sounded awesome– it is a place that provides insurance for up to 3 months; exactly what I was looking for. I called them up and their answer was, “you aren’t even in our system.” So I asked them how I could get in the system, and they said “you’re not in our system.” That was helpful.

So I called the Joseph Smith Community Health Clinic in Allston, and they’re not taking any new patients unless it’s a serious emergency or I’m pregnant.

There’s another clinic in Southie, but since they don’t take charity cases, I’ll have to pay the full price, which I totally can’t afford.

Basically, I’ve been on hold, listening to staticky classical piano music all morning with various places, having a pleasantly calm recorded voice informing me that “your call is important to us” only to talk to a bored operator who tells me there’s nothing I can do.

I guess I’ll have to get used to deafness, which is holding steady at about 75% today.