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Home > Ask A Career Coach > Insurance, Financial Help, and Work Advice

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Insurance, Financial Help, and Work Advice

Rachel B. on October 12, 2012

Career Management, Job Search, Work/Life/Cancer Balance

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 at age 31. I had a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction and 4 chemo treatments.

I’ve been having a lot of lingering effects of chemo or the Neulasta shots… who knows.  I’ve been seeing all kinds of doctors and now the rhematolgist has me on Cymbalta to see if it will help.  I’m not able to work full time (fatigue, limited range of motion, lifting restrictions, hard to stand for long periods of time, get sick a lot,...)  and my husband is self employed.    We have a few more months on Cobra, but after that, we’re trying to figure out what to do about insurance since I have a preexisting condition.   I still have high medical bills with all my ongoing tests/scans even after insurance.  We are having a hard time getting any kind of assistance with those since we are not at the poverty level.  Do you know of any groups that help with medical bills to people that currently have insurance and are not poor?  It’s still taking a big hit on us even after 3 years.

Also, are there any other options we have for insurance?  I was wondering if I might qualify for disability and then I can get insurance through that, right?

I know there are a few places that give part time employees benefits, but I looked around a lot and most of those require lots of standing, lifting, bending, and may not be that flexible with all my various doctor appointments and random illness.

thanks for your help.

Rachel




1 Comment

Image of Sarah Goodell

Sarah Goodell

Oct 15, 2012

Cancer and Careers Staff Comment:

Hi Rachel,

These types of insurance questions often have a number of legal
components, therefore, I recommend that you reach out to one (or both) of the resources listed below.
Both organizations will be able to help you determine what your insurance options
are.

-         
National Cancer Legal Services Network:  http://www.nclsn.org/
(send in an inquiry here: http://www.nclsn.org/?page_id=33)

-         
Cancer Legal Resource Center: http://www.disabilityrightslegalcenter.org/about/cancerlegalresource.cfm
(866-843-2572, Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM Pacific)

I hope that this is helpful and please let me know if you
have any other questions.

Best,

Sarah, Cancer and Careers Program Coordinator


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