I haven't actually lost it yet, but the likelihood I will lose it is very high.
In my country, the United States of America, there are a number of social programs to help low-income people.
I am very low income. And I have a disability.
Since 1995 I have been receiving what is called Supplemental Security Income (SSI). This is income from the government for people with disabilities who are also poor. My disability is my Mental Health. My diagnosis is Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD.
In my state, Texas, As long as I qualify for SSI I also automatically qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid is the federal insurance program for low-income people.
Which is all fine and dandy as long as they are looking only at MY income. Unfortunately, they also look at my husband's income. Together we can only have $3,000.00 at the end of every month or we are disqualified.
I may have already mentioned my husband has traditional investments. My personal portfolio is 100% crypto. Which means I can hide it from the government. At least for now.
But we can't hide what we've paid taxes on, including investments. Apparently, another rule is we can't have access to $3,000.00 at the end of every month. My husband's investments, though not liquid because they are INVESTMENTS, exceed this income/access limit.
So, my SSI will be canceled. Which is fine. I don't mind losing the tiny little check I get every month. But the health insurance. . . that I mind losing.
With the Affordable Care Act President Obama enacted, we should be able to get health insurance discounts. Only, our state, Texas, opted out of the program. And, last I checked, Keith earns too much money.
He doesn't earn enough to receive health insurance from his employment. He recently signed a bunch of paperwork to be put on full-time, but his boss's boss's boss apparently hasn't submitted the paperwork correctly to corporate headquarters. Or something.
So Keith doesn't know if he will even get insurance and if he does, he doesn't know if there is a family plan.
I have a wonderful county mental health program. I can get meds, free of charge from them. But without Medicaid, I will have to pay for my diabetes medications and my allergy medications out of pocket. I (probably) won't die without my allergy meds, but I will be uncomfortable to the point of incapacitation. Without the diabetes medication, all kinds of complications will ensue. Including Alzheimer's disease, blindness, stroke, and heart attack, and death.
So, those meds are the most important, after my psychiatric meds.
I haven't yet calculated the exact expense of paying for all of my medications out of pocket. A lot. Too much.
In addition to the medications, I have quarterly doctor's office visits with bloodwork. They run a lot of labs on me.
And of course, without the allergy medicine, I'll be back to having cluster migraines. Have you ever tried to write with a migraine? How about with a migraine that lasts 3 days. So, you can see how my potential income will be even more reduced. As will my general quality of life.
The American healthcare system is fucked.
I've spent all day gathering the paper work, making copies, and stuffing an envelope.
I have sent the SSI caseworker all of the information she requested. I hope I can stay on it. But at this point, the hope feels more like a wish.
You can expect many more articles, here, from me. I can't guarantee their quality. But I can make a lot of quantity.
All images license free from Unsplash or by me.
I really hope you can still keep that insurance. These required income ranges are sometimes disadvantageous. Like ome may earn high gross income but expenses cover majority of it, so it's not actually high in general, in this sense. This max or min income requirements makes it hard for others to quality for benefits they really dese rve to have, like insurance or financial assistance, for example.
I remember our family being not qualified for financial assistance program because our house was stone. Like wow. We may have a house.made of stone but my dad works at junk shops and we barely have money for studies. One's house does not really have to be a dilapidated one to deserve assistance from the government. Other aspects should also be considered.