The Collapse Of Gulf Benefits Fight Blamed For Heart Illness 80-Year-Old Stressed By Fear She’ll Lose Health Insurance
Anne Hellemons lives alone at the foot of Haystack Peak near Wardner, Idaho, in the same home she’s had for half a century.
She struggles to get by on Social Security and a $53-a-month pension from Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp., her late husband’s employer when it owned the Bunker Hill mine.
With Gulf in bankruptcy, the 80-year-old widow worries about her medical benefits. She still has a 1990 letter sent to all pensioners from the company’s top officer, promising to protect retirees’ benefits.
“They made things sound so good in that letter,” said Hellemons. “But things aren’t so good now.”
Like other Gulf pensioners, Hellemons will lose part of her supplemental insurance that covers bills that are not paid by Medicare.
Her children help her make ends meet. But health care costs are frequently on her mind.
Hellemons was hospitalized recently for heart problems brought on by stress, which she blames in part on fears of losing her medical benefits.
“I don’t trust that company at all,” she said. “Too much has happened that shouldn’t have happened.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo