Write a Letter to Your State Representative to Get Medicaid Help

State representative, senators, and other elected officials. You may have cast a vote to get them elected, but they all seem far from your reach once they get elected. But there may come a time when you desperately need help, such as medical or financial assistance. When such time comes, many people give up seeking help beyond the assistance available for the public. But if your need is desperate enough, you have go beyond what's easily accessible. And your elected state officials may be able to help you.

In this hub, I will describe how to get your your elected officials to act upon your needs.

1. Thoroughly Assess Your Need
2. Assess What You Have Done for the Country and Community
3. Write a Letter
4. Find the Contact Info and Get the Letter Delivered
5. Follow-Up and Don't Give Up

The first thing you have to figure out is how desperate your needs are.

Before you start, you have to thoroughly assess your needs, and know exactly what to ask help for. If it is a financial need, figure out how much money you need to get out of the immediate troubles, exactly to the cents. Gather your bills as well as your resources. Figure out how much you have to pay, and how much you can afford to pay. And gather all the paper documents to prove what you're claiming is true. Its always better to have more papers to prove your point than the other person asking for more papers.

Although it may not sound fair, but if two people are in same desperate needs, the one who can help may think to himself who deserves it more.

Sit down and write down the list of the things you have done for your country and community. If you have served in the military, law enforcement, or was a fireman, it all may help you convincing the state official to help you. Think of as many volunteer work or community services you have done, and write them down. If you are part of a church, write down any notable services you've done in the church.

After you've made your list, try to find any documents or certificates backing up your statement of services. If there isn't any papers, find any people who can say that what you've said you have done is true. It may be church pastors, community leaders, or other people you have done the services with.

If you have don't the above two things, writing the actual letter shouldn't be that hard. Don't get frustrated and think that you have to write a fancy letter because you are writing to a government official. Simple and honest words can do a better job than fancy words.

When you are writing the letter, incorporate the things you have gathered in #2 when you introduce yourself. Don't boast or brag about yourself, and claim that you deserve the help. If you deserve the help, they will know even if you don't tell them.

Tell them your situation, what measures you've taken to resolve your problems, and ask for their action to help you.

Now its time to send your letter to the right people. Your first choices are your state senators and representatives. You can google their names, and you can easily find their contact info. You probably won't be able to talk to them directly, but you will be able to get a hold of their secretaries without too much trouble. Tell them briefly about your needs, and that you want to ask the state official for help. Ask them what do they prefer in means of delivering the letter and other papers, either fax or mail. Emails are okay, but fax and physical mail are preferable since words on physical papers are still better in delivering these messages across than computer screens.

If you are sending your letters to multiple people, mention in your letter the list of people you are asking help for.

After you sent your letter and other documents, follow-up to make sure they've received them. And ask them how long it will take to review your needs and hear the decision. Contact them after the time frame they've given if they've not contacted you first.

If your request for help is declined, don't panic and ask again. When you ask again, tell them how many people you've asked help for, and that all of them have declined your request.

After reading this hub this far, you may still be hesitant to do all this work to send a letter to a state official to help you. But I've seen writing a such letting doing work in front of my own eyes. For an example, I had an old man making expensive phone calls in my motel (I run a small motel). His phone bill and other room charges soon piled up, to more than $2,000. Then he used my fax machine to fax letters to bunch of people, including the WA State Senator. About a week later, I've seen 2-3 checks mailed to my motel, wanting to pay for the old man's bill. And my personal opinion, this old man was abusing the system.

So if you're in desperate help, try writing letter to your state officials. One thing I've learned is that state officials don't like saying "I cannot help you." But if they cannot help you, they will at least tell you who can help you instead.