Hi,
I was having a conversation with one of my followers about how people just don't seem to understand what it means to be chronically/terminally ill. People in my experiences are the most clueless when it comes to the healthcare topic and being able to keep a job while being chronically/terminally ill.
I get a lot of: "Well just get a job." Or "Oh I'm sure you'll find health insurance." Which is completely false and an ignorant comment on their part. Here is what I posted and I wanted to share it with you all because I think those who are perfectly health don't really understand just how hard it is to get health insurance when you are chronically/terminally ill or have a pre-existing condition.
" It amazes me too how very little people know about how being
chronically and/or terminally ill can effect all aspects of your life. A
lot of people see me smiling and laughing at school, and they figure I
can do anything. But they don't see the side of me that takes 45 pills a
day, sleep with oxygen at night and get out of breath when just walking
up a flight of stairs. They don't get that some days are better than
others when it comes to my illness and they don't realize just how
expensive keeping me alive is.
They are used to going to the doctor once
a year while I go every 3 months. They think getting sick means getting
a cold and having a prescription for some allergy medication. They
don't think about needing to get approval from a health insurance
company or having to deal with being denied the medication because it is too expensive. They don't have to deal with trying to find health insurance when no one wants to insure you because you're too expensive. It's frustrating and sometimes, its
disheartening. But I am committed to spreading awareness that way more
people will realize, this isn't just some flu like thing that once I get
better its gone. This is going to live with me my whole life.
As of right now, I am on my state's medical
insurance but once I turn 21, I will have to put on my dad's. My dad
owns a small engineering firm and I worry that because of my health
insurance costs, his insurance premiums will sky rocket and he will end
up going bankrupt... all because of me. I hope that once I graduate from
college with my Psychology degree I will be able to get a job working
as a child psychologist with a hospital; that way I can get good health
insurance.
But what happens when I get sick for weeks on end and can't
make it to work? I can't afford to get fired from a job. I can't afford
to miss work but I have no control over it. Because of my heart and
lungs, when I get a simple cold it turns into something horrific that
makes me miss weeks. My senior year I missed 70+ days of school. If I do
that at my job, there is no way I'd be able to keep it which means, bye-bye insurance and I can't afford to not have that... I'd die."
It is easy to sit there and tell someone to get a job so they can get health insurance. But its different when you yourself have a chronic, pre-exisiting condition and/or terminal illness that no one wants to insure you for that reason. So please, before you tell someone to just "get a job to get health insurance" remember that we would if we could.
Hope and Love,
Becca
