Resurrection Takes Time

From KENS in San Antonio:

Considering the last several months, Robert McKenzie maintains a good spirit.

"I believe in God," the 72-year-old said. "I know that he will work things out, but sometimes when the devil gets after you, sometimes everything just falls apart."

In July, doctors diagnosed him with prostate cancer. But Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas left him with another problem.

It declared him dead.

The mistake was a simple coding error while processing his paperwork after he was discharged, the hospital said.

But that mistake spiraled into more problems.

"I had no income coming in," McKenzie continued. "I had my Medicare cut off. My Social Security was cut off. My SSI (Supplemental Security Income) was cut off. Everything!" ...

Presbyterian Hospital said when it discovered its mistake it fixed it immediately. The hospital even gave McKenzie $5,000 to help cover bills in the interim.

But unwinding this error with the Social Security Administration has taken longer.

Social Security's monthly checks of $700 resumed in December - for the first time since July, McKenzie said.

Supplemental Security Income was reactivated this week and he should receive checks again in January.

But neither Social Security nor SSI has been paid retroactively for the months he missed because of Presbyterian Hospital's mistake.

The Social Security Administration said work remains on McKenzie's file. Getting it all sorted out won't happen until after the holidays. ...

Part of the problem, he discovered, came from the $5,000 the hospital gave him. Social Security said it will deduct that from his Supplemental Income benefit.