Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
Top-level
fae_tail

@lrvick if this happens to anyone in Oregon, there is FLEX funding that'll pay for a cell & cell service under Care Oregon. It is a simple form that you may print or at your local library then take to any medical physician to assist you with filling out the form. If you are unhoused and unsure as to how to navigate this, please feel free to reach out and I will assist you to the best of my ability 🖤

17 comments
Virginia Holloway

@0batty_bat0

I'm pretty sure the issue isn't that @lrvick can't get a phone. They don't want one on principle.

fae_tail

@VirginiaHolloway @lrvick yeah, they probably don't live in Oregon either. I acknowledge that they most likely use a Linux phone, if one at all. Though my words may seem irrelevant to the post, I shared my thoughts for folks who cannot access ongoing medical care due to a lack of income for things such as phone/ phone service

Lance R. Vick

@0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway I don't use a phone or accept the terms of service of Apple or Google by choice.

I feel it should always be just that for anyone. A choice.

Also, I used to be homeless, and have lived without a phone when I literally could not afford one. Sometimes it is not a choice.

No one should be required to have an Apple/Google device for medical care.

fae_tail

@lrvick @VirginiaHolloway I'm not disagreeing, just letting folks know that there options if one is wanted

Ben Royce 🇺🇦

@lrvick @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway

if they mandate you have a phone before you receive basic services like healthcare, then the govt needs to provide an open source alternative phone and free/ supplemented network access

if that won't happen (spoiler: it won't happen) then go speak to a lawyer. they may pro bono the work because it would obviously be an important groundbreaking case

seriously this is big. make some noise

Malkbethwendy

@benroyce @lrvick @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway An aspect of real health care is to have informed consent, in every aspect of care, including how individuals get treatment & communicate with providers of said treatment, so just as requiring all get any specific treatment is unethical no matter if it comes with out of pocket costs or not, so is requiring a pretty specific technological device to get treatment & communicate with providers.

If I get a provider demanding I do this & they hand me a free phone that's activated(& wasn't one I could convert to a Linux OS ) at the same time- odds are I'd run over it with my car & drop the provider before that day ended... If I could convert the device - I'd skip destroying the phone but definitely drop the provider.

@benroyce @lrvick @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway An aspect of real health care is to have informed consent, in every aspect of care, including how individuals get treatment & communicate with providers of said treatment, so just as requiring all get any specific treatment is unethical no matter if it comes with out of pocket costs or not, so is requiring a pretty specific technological device to get treatment & communicate with providers.

Ben Royce 🇺🇦

@BrahmaBelarusian @lrvick @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway

point taken, understood. mandating mode of care without support for it is not the real no-no here, merely the mandate is. thank you

TheCoolest

@lrvick @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway

How does this medical provider provide adequate senior's care or disability care? There are so many people who still have nothing but landlines. My mom has never had a cell phone, and she works for a hospital. This is just odd.

Is it that they want you to install an app?

Lance R. Vick

@TheCoolest @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway

It is a type of care that few seniors would pursue.

Maybe that made the provider feel they were justified in dropping edge case patients like me.

Make everyone schedule appointments with an app, and no more receptionists, I guess?

But yes, bottom like is they want me to install an app, and I don't have a personal smartphone by choice.

Danny Boling ☮️

@lrvick

But even that doesn't make sense here. A web app is a perfectly realistic alternative to a mobile app, and they could still fire the receptionists. I have the MyChart app on my phone, for emergencies, but do all my communicating with the doctor's office via their website on my laptop at home. If I were a suspicious person, I'd think they want you to use the app so they can train their AI with your medical data (that's tied only to their app).

@TheCoolest @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway

Malkbethwendy

@lrvick @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway I'm pretty close to this mess happening myself, as I don't use telephone calls to communicate & only carry a Linux os phone (if any) when I travel. It is mainly privacy rights problem, but likewise affects many disabled when, as with my area so far, it's "phone calls, an Android/iphone app, or in person" I've yet to be dropped by an existing provider but see it as something that's inevitable soon, if more don't fight against this, with lawyers/legal teams I know I cant afford.

Breakup Gaming Society

@lrvick @0batty_bat0 @VirginiaHolloway I abandoned mobile a couple years ago for a bunch of reasons, but it was lame to hit an impasse during a job application because VoIP numbers are invalid.

andrew

@lrvick I have just dug out an old CWU report on BT dated 1996 and it contains many predictions regarding the future of telecoms, discussing the internet, value added services etc etc that did come true

But what report missed completely was anything to do with health. I imagine that (government) policy makers, like the report writers, must have been way behind those who see this as a commercial opportunity

Quinn9282 🖥️🌙✌️

@0batty_bat0 @lrvick You're misinterpreting what this post is about.

From what I gather, it's not because he can't afford to pay for a phone, it's because he does not use an Apple or Google device and (presumably) does not want to.

In an earlier post, he mentioned that the medical provider in question was forcing him to download an app to access their services that he does not accept the terms of service of, and they refuse to accept him as a patient because of that.

mastodon.social/@lrvick/111711

@0batty_bat0 @lrvick You're misinterpreting what this post is about.

From what I gather, it's not because he can't afford to pay for a phone, it's because he does not use an Apple or Google device and (presumably) does not want to.

In an earlier post, he mentioned that the medical provider in question was forcing him to download an app to access their services that he does not accept the terms of service of, and they refuse to accept him as a patient because of that.

Maggie Maybe

@Quinn9282 @0batty_bat0 @lrvick I think they got that, I think they were just sharing the information for anyone else reading this thread who may not have a phone because of financial reasons.

I absolutely love to see someone out here living a life where they refuse to agree to terms and services mega corporations are trying to impose on them. It’s badass AF.

But I hate that something like this seems heroic and extraordinary to me.

Maggie Maybe

@0batty_bat0 @lrvick this is good to know. The lifeline phone program will provide one as well, but unless they changed it it’s impossible to get as a homeless person because you have to have a home address. And they only give you one phone ever. When mine stopped working I was unable to continue to use the program because I didn’t even have money to buy a replacement phone. And then once I did I just got one from straight talk because I was uncomfortable using a government phone. I don’t know if I signed away my right to privacy in my telephone transactions.

The lifeline phones were android.

@0batty_bat0 @lrvick this is good to know. The lifeline phone program will provide one as well, but unless they changed it it’s impossible to get as a homeless person because you have to have a home address. And they only give you one phone ever. When mine stopped working I was unable to continue to use the program because I didn’t even have money to buy a replacement phone. And then once I did I just got one from straight talk because I was uncomfortable using a government phone. I don’t know if...

Go Up