I am so sorry. Praying right now. Sadly, because people abuse pain medicine so much, it hurts those like your brother that need them. God Bless You!

The hurdles you describe are a problem. And S. Carolina did not expand their Medicaid program under the federal gov so some poor and elderly residents do not receive any health care coverage. You need to connect with a pain group near where you are considering moving and obtain acceptance prior to going. This would entail you having your medical records from pain doctor copied or electronically mailed to the new practice. And only after they review your record will they give you an answer. And nothing is written in stone.
Concerning your relatives issue with pain meds, the doctor needs a full picture of how you were injured to compare to where you are now clinically. And with insurance they want to be certain your current insurance will cover their care of you. If your injury was accident related is a third or fourth party responsible for payment? They just want to be sure all the ducks are in a row so payment is assured. Medical debt is a huge problem in this nation. If the records were sent blindly to a practice without setting up with one specific provider may be your issue. They receive many copies of medical records daily by fax, mail, email, etc. and without seeing a name from a medical record that matches a patient in their system the record will go nowhere. Also be aware we have a huge shortage of doctors across the country and much of S. Carolina is rural I believe so take this into consideration too. Good luck.