The Cost of Chronic Illness and How To Make It Easier + Giveaway

I’ve talked before about the different ways that chronic illness can affect your life. It affects your relationships, your education, and your life in general. But one massive way it can affect your life is through your finances. Being chronically ill isn’t cheap by any means, but so many people are unaware of the lengths to which it affects lives. Here is what exactly the cost of chronic illness is and what you can do to reduce it, including grants you can apply for to help you cover some of the costs. Plus, scroll down and you can enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are, as always, my own. Learn more here.

Cost of Chronic Illness

Think about this: if you have two specialist appointments a month with a co-pay of $30 each, four prescriptions a month at $15 each, twelve physical therapy appointments a year with a co-pay of $30 each, two ER trips a year at $100 each, then you’re spending an extra $2,000 a year. Oh – and those figures are low. I have at least 2 medical appointments a week and I take 10+ medications that are usually over $15 each, so my annual cost is higher than that.

And let’s not think about gas costs to go to all these appointments or any appointments that aren’t covered by your insurance or if you needed a procedure. When I was in high school, we were trying to figure out what was up with my health. I spent a lot of time traveling to different medical appointments across New England. I lived in Maine and we usually were going to Boston, which is a 2 hour drive one way. The gas for those appointments couldn’t have been cheap. And then you have to remember that we were traveling within a close enough distance that we could go home and didn’t need to stay overnight in a hotel after, but some people might not be so lucky. Gas and a hotel could come up to a couple hundred extra dollar per appointment.

Maybe these figures seems like they doesn’t matter. But do you have an extra two grand for medical costs a year? I hope so because that’s still a low amount. And this is all with insurance. If you are able to work – remember how I’m not? Thank goodness I’m able to stay on my dad’s insurance because I’m disabled – then the insurance comes out of your paycheck. When I worked, I had to have extra deductions made from my paycheck because I didn’t just need regular health insurance; I also needed disability insurance in case something happened and I had to leave work for a period of time.

Want to save money? Sorry. Want to invest money for your future? Too bad. Want to travel to visit family for the holidays? Not happening. Want to make ends meet? You might not be able to.
More than likely, you’ve probably heard that money problems can causes problems in relationships of any kind. So maybe this will cause strife in your life. Or maybe the pain will.

What You Can Do To Reduce the Cost

Reimbursement plan – Some insurance plans will reimburse you for some of your medical costs, so check and see if yours has something like that.

Receipts for tax refund – Keep your receipts! When you file your taxes, add up your medical costs and they can usually help you get a higher refund.

Shop around for insurance plan – When it comes to selecting the right insurance plan, do as much research as possible. Usually, when it comes to getting insurance through your employer, you don’t get a chance of which company to through. But you do generally get to select the type of plan! Before you choose a plan, do as much research as you possibly can so you can make the best educated decision. If you are self-employed and are choosing your plan on your own, again, do as much research as possible!

If you are a parent of a chronically ill child, apply for a United Healthcare Children’s Fund grant – If you’re in the US and have a child who is 16 or younger and receives medical care in the US, you can apply for a grant to help cover costs! United Healthcare Children’s Fund is looking to award 20,000 grants by the year 2020, and 88.9% of qualified, completed medical grant applications are approved. The grants are retroactive to 60 days prior to the grand application and apply for 1 year (unless the price of the grant is reached before that). You do need to be covered by a commercial health plan, but like I said, the cost of medical expenses even with insurance is so high that the money can make a huge difference. There is a scale of financial eligibility to qualify for a medical grant, and awards will not be granted to individuals in families who do not meet that financial eligibility. The health care professional is paid directly, but exceptions can be made to reimburse the family if documentation is submitted that shows that the health care professional was paid. Here is what you need to apply for a grant. Apply for a grant here!

Amazing Gift Card Giveaway

I’ve partnered with UHCCF to help you win a $50 Amazon gift card! All you need to do is share the post. The giveaway is open until 11:59 PM EST on June 30, and it is only open to US citizens who are 18 or older.

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Like this post? Check out:

So You Were Diagnosed with a Chronic Illness: What You Should Do Next, Dating with a Chronic Illness, Why the Traditional Pain Scale Needs To Go, Why the Traditional Pain Scale Needs To Go