Work = Pay
The funny thing about paychecks is the fact that one's employers only like giving them out to employees that actually show up and work. Oh, there is sick time and vacation time, but after a while, and a short while at that, they just don't seem to want to pay you anymore if you don't show up, regardless of how valid your excuse might be.
Now one might think that "I had a heart attack" would be a good excuse to take a little time off work. And it is! They have been exceedingly gracious about the whole thing and are quite concerned. But... They don't want to pay me.
Hmm, well I can't really blame them of course. That is the way the Capitalist model works. But when the paychecks stopped coming (and honestly the last one was only about a week after my heart attack and Christmas)a lot of other things crop up. Such as, medical insurance is paid for in part by paycheck deductions. Without paychecks, there are no deductions so either I find money to pay my share or the normal benefits all go away.
Thankfully, I had also signed up for Short Term Disability insurance for EXACTLY this kind of thing. I never expected to use it of course (we are all immortals in our own minds, for a time), but many years ago I did learn a valuable lesson about this.
Long ago, a dear friend of mine from work, Krissy McGrady, contracted an extremely rare form of cancer. She had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl (picture stars in my eyes here) and until that diagnosis had a really wonderful life ahead of her. Then everything went to hell. Once she was unable to work, she lost all income and shortly thereafter regular insurance. She was able to get some state aid, but you know those people take forever to move.
My friends at work and I all pitched in to provide whatever support we could, money, time, help, rides, et cetera. She was very grateful and it made a big difference in the last months of her life. And it taught me something. She never prepared for the worst. And I mean The Worst. So when time came to sign up for benefits the next year, I got myself the disability insurance and life insurance (so Dee will be provided for, at least enough to weather her through). I never expected to actually need it, but experience told me that we are only immortal for a very short time.
So while this Short Term Disability insurance (hey, that has the ugly abbreviation of STD insurance) does provide an income, it's a lot less than regular pay. Plus, I now have to take that money and pay my share of the insurance that would normally be in my paycheck deductibles. But I thank god I have this, as it DOES cover my basic needs for me and Dee (so don't worry about us) and we are lucky to have already moved in with her parents when all this hit the fan. Things are stabilizing out for us. I have support from family and friends and forethought of getting adequate coverage. I don't know how long all this will last with me or how it will resolve itself, but I am coming to terms with it and have some peace of mind at least.
And if it DOES last a long time, I also have Long Term Disability insurance as well. Again, it's not as much $$$ as working, but it should keep us afloat.
Now one might think that "I had a heart attack" would be a good excuse to take a little time off work. And it is! They have been exceedingly gracious about the whole thing and are quite concerned. But... They don't want to pay me.
Hmm, well I can't really blame them of course. That is the way the Capitalist model works. But when the paychecks stopped coming (and honestly the last one was only about a week after my heart attack and Christmas)a lot of other things crop up. Such as, medical insurance is paid for in part by paycheck deductions. Without paychecks, there are no deductions so either I find money to pay my share or the normal benefits all go away.
Thankfully, I had also signed up for Short Term Disability insurance for EXACTLY this kind of thing. I never expected to use it of course (we are all immortals in our own minds, for a time), but many years ago I did learn a valuable lesson about this.
Long ago, a dear friend of mine from work, Krissy McGrady, contracted an extremely rare form of cancer. She had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl (picture stars in my eyes here) and until that diagnosis had a really wonderful life ahead of her. Then everything went to hell. Once she was unable to work, she lost all income and shortly thereafter regular insurance. She was able to get some state aid, but you know those people take forever to move.
My friends at work and I all pitched in to provide whatever support we could, money, time, help, rides, et cetera. She was very grateful and it made a big difference in the last months of her life. And it taught me something. She never prepared for the worst. And I mean The Worst. So when time came to sign up for benefits the next year, I got myself the disability insurance and life insurance (so Dee will be provided for, at least enough to weather her through). I never expected to actually need it, but experience told me that we are only immortal for a very short time.
So while this Short Term Disability insurance (hey, that has the ugly abbreviation of STD insurance) does provide an income, it's a lot less than regular pay. Plus, I now have to take that money and pay my share of the insurance that would normally be in my paycheck deductibles. But I thank god I have this, as it DOES cover my basic needs for me and Dee (so don't worry about us) and we are lucky to have already moved in with her parents when all this hit the fan. Things are stabilizing out for us. I have support from family and friends and forethought of getting adequate coverage. I don't know how long all this will last with me or how it will resolve itself, but I am coming to terms with it and have some peace of mind at least.
And if it DOES last a long time, I also have Long Term Disability insurance as well. Again, it's not as much $$$ as working, but it should keep us afloat.