However, I wanted to share with you a very personal post from Misty over at Saintless about the situation with her and her sister:
Jenee is now 23, going on 24. It was mid-December when she moved here, so it’s been almost 5 years, now.
She has lived with me on and off for most of that time, as she is now. Jenee has relied on me for a lot of things, including finances ocassionally, though I won’t get to far into that in such an open forum. Suffice it to say, I have considered her my dependant this entire time. I jokingly refer to her as my 3rd child, though that often irritates her.
Over the years, she has has many medical conditions, most of them minor. She has always had hives (nonstop), though because she can’t afford an allergy test, she has only been able to deal with it by ocassionally getting some cream that she hoards, because she doesn’t often have the chance to get it. She’s had minor infections like strep throat which go untreated, probably infecting others without her having much choice. She’s had multiple ear infections, which also go untreated, the last of which left a hole in her eardrum. After that, she managed to go to a doctor but it was too late for him to do anything except recommend surgery she couldn’t afford.
[...]
She’s never had much of an income, and scapes by. She can’t afford health insurance. Living with me, she can’t qualify for any state benefits, even if she were willing and they were available (which she’s not and they aren’t).
If Utah were to pass domestic partner benefits during the upcoming year, as have been proposed, I would be able to add my sister to my insurance benefits. The hole in my sister’s ear would be fixed, when she gets strep throat, it doesn’t get shared with the general public, and she’d be able to find out what’s causing her hives and end the constant holes in her arms from them. This is all much more expensive untreated than treated.
No comments:
Post a Comment