Elderly Brooklyn woman trying to prove to the city that she is still alive

MIDWOOD (WABC) -- A woman in Brooklyn is trying to prove to the city that she is still alive.

87-year-old Selma Cohen got a letter from the New York City Fraud Bureau saying she will no longer receive Medicaid because she is dead. Now she is worried that other benefits may be cut off as well.

Cohen says she does not know how this situation happened, and that it is imperative that everything is corrected immediately.

The thyroid cancer survivor and widow sat down with Eyewitness News in her Midwood apartment , saying she has already had to cancel a doctor's appointment. She says it takes 14 medications daily, and if the mistake is not corrected, it could have grave consequences.

"How am I going to survive? If I can't get medicine, I don't know what I'm going to do," says Cohen.

Cohen says convincing people that she is very much alive has been a greater challenge than she could have imagined - she has made calls and waited in lines.

A representative for City Hall said Sunday, "we are looking into this case, and if there is any error, we will fix it."

"I'm dealing with a bureaucracy, and they are not fast to fix anything," Cohen adds.

Now, a vibrant senior says she is deathly afraid, because he can't afford to pay up for a mistake she says wasn't hers. She says she has no idea what she is going to do if this does not come through.

Cohen says she is fearful she will lose her other benefits as well. She says she is simply too old for the red tape and the runaround.