H is for healthcare. When you think about people with disabilities, how do you imagine their health care?
For me, healthcare is everything. I didn’t have decent health insurance until I was 29, but I’ve been a person with disabilities since birth. Lack of healthcare is one of the largest contributing factors to an acquired disability, meaning: Yes, I’ve been disabled since birth, but not having adequate healthcare for 29 years was really what set me back the most.
So, how difficult is it to get healthcare when your job does not provide it or keeps you at hours that prevent you from insurance as some of the companies I worked for did? Extremely. It’s really only available through some strict governmental programs.
And how difficult is it to get government healthcare benefits? Next to impossible. Medicaid is offered on a state-by-state basis and requirements change based on what your state allows. Before Medicaid will cover your healthcare as a person with disabilities, you have to essentially have to ‘spend down’ everything that you have to qualify. Check out this article from Investopedia on healthcare coverage for people with disabilities to learn more.