Читать книгу Financial Security For Dummies - Eric Tyson - Страница 42

Our personal health is often taken for granted when things are fine, which thankfully for most people is nearly all the time. But a health challenge, typically unforeseen, can turn your life and emotions upside down.

To keep your sanity and to ensure your best health, here are some important steps to take and points to keep in mind:

 Check your coverage. Make sure your health insurance coverage is being paid and in force. While insurance companies can’t boot you from your coverage for a medical problem, you can lose your coverage if you haven’t been paying for it. If your coverage has lapsed or you simply never bothered to get coverage thinking you wouldn’t need it, get signed up pronto!

 Take time off from your job. We have enough stressors in our lives even when all is good with our health. Adding the uncertainty of the possible paths of a medical problem can easily cause any normal person to feel overwhelmed. If you work for an employer, they may offer sick days and/or personal days.Currently, there are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave except for temporary COVID-19 paid leave law. More than a dozen states mandate some sick pay beyond temporary COVID-19 requirements. At the federal level, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows for up to 12 weeks of unpaid sick leave for either the employee or a member of their immediate family for particular medical conditions. “Employees are eligible to take FMLA leave if they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months and have worked for at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, and work at a location where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor. For more on these and other safety nets, please see Chapter 4.

 Enlist and embrace support. It can be difficult to be objective and calm when your health is on the line. Having a spouse, relative, or other close friend assist you with your research and serve as a sounding board for decisions can be useful and calming. When it’s your health problem, dealing with important medical decisions can feel isolating and lonely, so finding a trusted person willing and able to share some of the burden and thinking can be invaluable. Just be sure that the person you’re trusting will keep your information and situation confidential and that they understand what you’re hoping to get from their involvement.

 Seek second opinions and do some research. There is rarely just one clear-cut course of action to deal with a particular medical problem. Be sure you ask any medical provider what treatment options exist for your problem and their opinion of the pros and cons of each. Doctors are often rushed and may make you feel that you can’t ask a lot of questions. If necessary, schedule another office visit or ask a time-constrained doctor when you can follow up with them by phone. Recognize that medical providers have conflicts of interest, make mistakes, and have imperfections.You should also do some of your own research, but please understand the dangers of unvetted things you may read online that any person with a computer can choose to publish on a website. Check and vet your sources!