St. Louis Post-Dispatch Bill McClellan column [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Nov. 25--Steve Missey teaches English at St. Louis University High School, which provides health insurance for Steve and his family. The insurance is from Christian Brothers Employee Trust, which comes from Christian Brothers Services, a nonprofit Catholic organization.

James is the third of the four Missey children. He just turned four. He has Down syndrome. He is non-verbal. Last December, he was diagnosed as austistic.

State law requires insurance companies to offer Applied Behavior Analysis therapy for austistic children. After James received his diagnosis, Steve's wife called Christian Brothers Services, but was told the state mandate does not apply to so-called church plans.

I wrote about the situation in October. I suggested that James would be better off if his family had commerical insurance.

Happily, I was wrong. Four days after the column was published, the managing director of Christian Brothers contacted an official at the high school.

"After review and discussion, our attorney feels that although the law is still very vague, he does feel it could be interpreted as having to apply to Church Plans just as any other commercial plan. Therefore, we will be providing coverage as stipulated under the law for any participant of the Trust residing in the state of Missouri. I have sent a certified letter to Mr. Missey advising of same."

James is now eligible for therapy.

-- T.J. Hill was a state champion wrestler at Farmington High School. He later wrestled for Cal State Fullerton and finished fourth in the NCAA finals in 2000.

Then he bounced around. In 2006, he pleaded guilty in Washington County to possession of a controlled substance, psilocybin. He was put on five years probation with a suspended imposition of sentence. In other words, if he completed his probation, he would have no criminal record.

Instead, he left the state. He went to New York where he worked as a wrestling coach. Because he did not have permission to leave Missouri, he was declared an absconder. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

In April of this year, he was stopped in Long Island for a traffic violation. A computer checked revealed the warrant. He was brought back to Missouri.

When I wrote about him in September, he was facing a prison sentence. I suggested we banish him instead. Why should Missouri taxpayers support him when people from New York were writing letters on his behalf?

JUdge Kenneth Pratte had a better idea. On Monday, he decided to continue Hill's probation. Hill's attorney, Brad Van Zee, told me Hill was filling out paperwork to get his probation transferred to New York.

-- Steven Pogue was facing a less serious charge when I wrote about his case in June. He was charged in Ballwin Municipal Court with unlawfully extending a body part from his car. The ordinance prohibits extending any part of the body outside the vehicle except the hand and arm and they can be extended for signaling purposes only.

Pogue had been waiting at a red light on Manchester Road. Just before his light turned green, a driver pulled into the intersection, thus blocking Pogue. As the intersection cleared and the driver pulled away, Pogue put his left hand out the window with his middle finger extended. An officer saw the exchange and gave Pogue a ticket.

I suggested that Pogue make the same gesture toward the judge and prosecutor. If eitehr were to get angry, that would be an admission that they recognize the extended middle finger as a signal.

We will never know if that defense would have worked. Ballwin dropped the charge.

-- Ricky Mitchell has been on Social Security disability for years because of mental problems. In 2007, Social Security notified him that he owed $88,000 in overpayments. Because he receives Medicaid, he is not allowed to have any savings.

Social Security then reversed itself and said he actually had been underpaid. He received a check for $8,643. He bought a TV and a Sony Playstation and paid some bills.

This June, Social Security reversed itself again and said he really had been overpaid $88,000. His disability was terminated. Because he was no longer on disability, Missouri Medicaid dropped him.

I wrote about his case in October. Things are still confusing, but better, He has been reinstated on Medicaid and Social Security has resumed depositing money in his account, although there is no official verification that he has been reinstated.

-- Finally, I wrote about the death of my oldest friend, Larry Less. He was a Cubs fan. A friend who is a priest in Chicago sent me a note.

"Your friend Larry will be remembered at Mass this week celebrated by a White Sox Fan. A few prayers can't hurt."

Larry was not Catholic and he didn't like the White Sox, but my friend was right. A few prayers can't hurt.

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