Having finally managed to find a job, and lucky enough to find something that pays 15/hour 40 hours a week without a Bachelor's, I'm starting to feel like I'm almost better off making 8/hour at McDonalds and getting insulin through Medicaid or whatever.
You know you're using a broken system, when the more you make, the harder it is to keep up with your medical expenses. 30,000ish/year with $175 premiums just to get $100+ copays on Novolog/Lantus. You're actually better off making next to nothing and getting cheap/free insulin through medicaid and/or based on your income.
I've been dealing with depression for basically the entire 7+ years since I was diagnosed, and I really thought getting a job (and a decent one at that) would help, but doing the math on my expenses just makes me more miserable than I was before. $400+ a month in medical expenses between premiums, insulin, strips, and pen needles. That leaves like $600-650 for rent+utilities which means I can never afford anything beyond some roommate situation, and never afford to go back to school or have a social life or live on anything but soup and PBJ sandwiches.
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