Well, okay then.
So it turns out that my health care is vanishing into thin air at the end of October; I've fallen into a gap where I'm too old to continue receiving the Medicaid that's (literally) saved my life these past two years, but too young to qualify for Medicare.
The good news is that I had the help when I needed it most, and that I'm mostly healed. The less good news is that I currently can't handle the insurance premiums I'd be socked with for private insurance, and even if I *could* handle that, the deductibles and co-pays would cost too much for me to actually be able to use it.
The other less good news is that the way things were moving along until just a couple of weeks ago, it was looking to everyone that I wouldn't be needing the ongoing care I still get for much longer, maybe not even past October. Except now the healing seems to have stalled out. The hospital cuts costs drastically for uninsured people, but yikes. Things could add up very very fast...
I'm far from the only person in this boat. And I'm grateful that the cancer seems to be pretty much routed, at least so far. But I'm about to have to start living on a mighty high tightrope without a safety net anywhere in sight -- again -- and sometimes it's kind of terrifying to think about.
Okay, zen mind. I'm putting the cart way before the horse. I'm really not expecting to *need* that much health care, certainly not after I finish up this last little leg of healing. And there's a strong possibility of a previous-life project starting up again, which would give me more flexibility in avoiding a ton of medical debt. And I still *might* finish the last dregs of healing before my Medicaid goes away.
Positivity and calmness. I can do that. :-)
Of course, I do better at that when I don't look at the situation objectively... :-) But it will work out. My life is, like, six million times better than it was two years ago, and I haven't come this far to slip backwards; I refuse to.
But if anyone wants to shoot off a few "hurry up and finish healing" thoughts to my silly body, I totally wouldn't object. :-)
Posted on DW and LJ. Read DW comments (comments:
). Leave a comment on the DW post.
The good news is that I had the help when I needed it most, and that I'm mostly healed. The less good news is that I currently can't handle the insurance premiums I'd be socked with for private insurance, and even if I *could* handle that, the deductibles and co-pays would cost too much for me to actually be able to use it.
The other less good news is that the way things were moving along until just a couple of weeks ago, it was looking to everyone that I wouldn't be needing the ongoing care I still get for much longer, maybe not even past October. Except now the healing seems to have stalled out. The hospital cuts costs drastically for uninsured people, but yikes. Things could add up very very fast...
I'm far from the only person in this boat. And I'm grateful that the cancer seems to be pretty much routed, at least so far. But I'm about to have to start living on a mighty high tightrope without a safety net anywhere in sight -- again -- and sometimes it's kind of terrifying to think about.
Okay, zen mind. I'm putting the cart way before the horse. I'm really not expecting to *need* that much health care, certainly not after I finish up this last little leg of healing. And there's a strong possibility of a previous-life project starting up again, which would give me more flexibility in avoiding a ton of medical debt. And I still *might* finish the last dregs of healing before my Medicaid goes away.
Positivity and calmness. I can do that. :-)
Of course, I do better at that when I don't look at the situation objectively... :-) But it will work out. My life is, like, six million times better than it was two years ago, and I haven't come this far to slip backwards; I refuse to.
But if anyone wants to shoot off a few "hurry up and finish healing" thoughts to my silly body, I totally wouldn't object. :-)
Posted on DW and LJ. Read DW comments (comments:
). Leave a comment on the DW post.