MASON CITY – Mason City resident and native Lori (Casey) Bartz is facing large out-of-pocket medical expenses after being diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease in April. Her treatments, tests, medications, and supplements are not covered by her health insurance, and her diagnosis requires her to travel to Viroqua, Wisconsin, to receive treatment.
A fundraising benefit will be held Saturday, September 7, from 4 – 8pm, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 419 N. Delaware, Mason City. The evening will include live music provided by Adam Gabel and Bill Grant, a silent auction, a bake sale, T-Shirt sales, and more. A meal will also be served to include walking tacos and all the fixings for a free will donation. All funds raised at the benefit will go directly to Bartz to help defray the cost of treatment and travel. Additional funding is also provided by the Cerro Gordo County Chapter of Thrivent Financial.
Bartz’ case of Lyme Disease went undiagnosed and misdiagnosed for over 20 years. Because of the numerous affects all systems of her body, she is unable to work full time, and lives with daily pain and fatigue. With the physical demands of daily living and mounting stress, Bartz realized she needed to reach out to others. “Financially I am only able to get by paying my bills and feeding myself and son right now, and that in and of itself is barely do-able. When adding in the medical bills and circumstances, this situation becomes impossible.”
In addition to proceeds from the benefit, donations can also be made to the Lori Casey Bartz Benefit Fund at First Citizens National Bank, 2601 4th Street SW, Mason City.
There is also a FAcebook page dedicated to the benefit, here: https://www.facebook.com/events/696705127013172/
Watch video:
httpv://youtu.be/3msIY2bVUeA
Some of you people really are jerks.
Chronic Lyme disease is devastating, as I know first hand. Don’t just be trolls for the sake of it – go to the benefit and spew your hate speech directly in Lori’s face. Oh you won’t, you don’t have the guts to face her and say the things that you say online.
And you call yourselves Christian.
Lori is a wonderful warm hearted amazing woman who has suffered with this for years. She is VERY proactive in her healthcare and has gone far and wide to find the help that she needs. She has NEVER asked for a hand out and has always taken care of herself. She has always put others before herself and would be the very first to step up and lend a helping hand to anyone who needed it. Heck, she would even help out the people who write negative comments on here! That’s why people are MORE than happy to step up and help Lori in any way they can (including this wonderful fundraiser being held for her) because they know that she would do the same for them! Take a good hard look at yourselves…If push came to shove, would people do this for you? If not, you might want to think about how you live your life and how you treat people around you…How your friends and family rally around you in a time of need speaks volumes about you and how Lori’s friends and family are coming together to support her says it ALL! Lori you are much loved! Bless you!
Disability does not cover medical and it takes tow years after you are approved for disability before you can qualify for medicare. Medicaid on the other hand is available if your income qualifies. The lady may fall in the cracks between coverage. She may be in the position of not being able to afford insurance and having more income that she should to qualify for medicaid. I believe (not positive) that the income limit for medicaid is $1,350 for a single person. Not very much in today’s enviroment.
stop going out in the woods
He insurer is not covering it because they think it’s a quack diagnosis.
Treatment for chronic Lyme is usually done via a port in the chest with IV drugs for several months and is not covered by any insurance because they want you to use cheaper pills which never really knock it out in chronic cases. This IV treatment costs about $50,000. This is probably why this lady needs a benefit to help her financially. This is far worse than a broken arm that heals in 6 weeks. It is a debilitating disease that has stolen her life from her for the past 20 years and may affect her forever. . I give her a lot of credit for continuing to work part time. Also, ticks live in grass and bushes, not trees, so you don’t have to go to the woods to get infected.
@Katie-there is nothing wrong with helping someone who really needs it. Medical bills can get out of hand very quickly. Believe me I know.
And it’s controversial and undefinitive.