21 year old with two bulging disks in back

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

About two years ago my son, who was 19 at the time, was heading to basic training. Shortly before he was to leave he had injured his back. The day of his departure his back was hurting so bad the doctors at the MEP station had him do an MRI and it showed two bulging disks in his back. He was immediately discharged.

Since that time he has been going to see a Dr. about the continual back pain. The Dr had prescribed 3 or 4 different medication to relax the muscles and control the pain.

He has worked retail jobs. Always telling them during the interview that he had a back injury. A few of the jobs hired him on as temporary and would not pick him up permanent. He has been working part time at a retail place since last December.

This past April he turned 21. He was dropped from our insurance since he was not in school. We can't afford to pay for college and could not afford the monthly payment to keep him insured. The place he is working at now says he can't apply for medical until September/Octobers open enrollment. Even then I'm not sure he qualifies since he's part time. So he has not had any medical care since April. He was given a 3 month supply of his meds then and takes them only when absolutely necessary.

He has this back pain on a daily basis. Waking up he seems to be in sever pain until the meds kick in but you can tell even then he has pain. Most of the time he looks like he is walking with a limp since he's trying to compensate for the back pain. I'm not sure how much longer he will be able to keep this job. He has called out a couple times due to the pain and has been late on more than one occasion while waiting for the meds to kick in.

My question is: Does a 21 year old qualify for disability? Or can he qualify for some sort of medical care?

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