I have to admit that “Dealing with Disability 2” is one of my favorites so far. It’s just so absurd to be in the hospital and have to do paperwork to prove that you’re sick. It’s enough to make your mind explode.
Due to my Crohn’s Disease and the fact that I live in the states, I’ve always had to work for larger companies. It’s the only way someone like me could ever get health insurance. I was very lucky that my company offered short-term disability too. Because I had been there for over a year, I was entitled to 6 months of pay at 60% of what I’d been earning. I could never properly explain how grateful I am for this benefit. It saved me from having to go into debt, which is a dark reality for a lot of Americans with chronic disease.
However, with a large company, benefits go hand-in-hand with bureaucracy. As I mentioned before, disability leave tends to be designed around injuries that have well-defined and reliable recovery times, such as a broken leg. Crohn’s Disease is nothing if not unpredictable and so my disability was suspended pretty much every 3 weeks. Each time, I had to spend hours on the phone to get it reinstated. It felt like an unnecessary pain – especially when I was in the hospital. So it goes.