Since being diagnosed in April I have had some weird thoughts or maybe it so weird. I have worked for a place for close to 13’years with good health benefits. I haven’t used it because I have always been healthly. Never really thought about leaving until retirement but now it makes me mad I feel stuck…because this stupid disease would be very hard without insurance. My husband and I started with our jobs young and will be Mr to retire with thirty years by the age of 53. Well really? We were.going to travel…pick up odd jobs and live life after our kids are grown. How can this even be feasible when I’m stuck with the expenses of type one? There is absolutely no way this dream (whether it becomes a reality or not) can even be a thought. I never thought twice about it before. Anyway…had to get t off my chest. There are a million other reasons why diabetes SUCKS and this is thought I’ve focused on all day. I am grateful don’t get me wrong. Bad D day for me is all. 
I get it. I would love to take a semester off from school to take care of my Dad, but, while my program would let me I can’t live without the insurance.
Why can’t you travel? You can get insurance in the U.S. with the ACA, you can get travel insurance for up to a year of travel, you can get expat insurance or insurance in countries you want to live in for longer stays. Everywhere but the U.S. it is easier. Living in another country and having a bank account and paying taxes is harder. Getting residency visas (we can only stay for 90 days in almost all countries on a tourist visa) is very difficult and time consuming. Honest - I’m living it now. It’s not much more complicated with T1D than without. we always wanted to retire a little early and travel, then dx with T1D at age 49. I was dx with minor kidney damage and neuropathy the same day. I thought everything would change, but it didn’t. I keep my A1Cs in the 5’s to protect myself from the complications getting worse (so far, so good!). We can’t travel if I need dialysis, but my darling husband says he’ll push me around if I need a wheelchair. (I love him).
Were you going to travel (or live in the U.S.) without health insurance before T1D? No matter your situation, you can get hit by a bus… Don’t travel without insurance. When I travel I get $500,000/$1,000,000 medical/evacuation insurance - always have. It’s not that expensive until you start getting older.
When we move, we will get insurance in the country we are moving to and probably pay for Medicare Part A at age 65 in case we move back. If we move again, we will go through the whole process again - visas, medical ins, banking, tax attorneys, buying a house… Worth every minute!!!
Yes, I felt much like you do. But we were going to join the Peace Corps and that is not an option any more with T1D (big bummer!!!) but decided to move to a country where maybe we can do some good. Don’t lose your dreams - no reason to. Keep the complications to a minimum and you can do almost anything!! Save your pennies (lots of pennies) and accumulate airline miles.
Live the dream!
Quigley,
I’d suggest giving it more time to figure the insurance out. The health insurance market is in major turmoil right now. Sooner or later it’s got to settle down to allow you buy insurance after you retire. Here are the options I know of. If your job has an HR person, they would be able to explain these better than me:
- You can quit and go on Cobra for 18 months and keep the same insurance to tide you over until you find something else.
- There’s the option to open your own business and find insurance through that business, there are association plans etc. for certain types of businesses, at least in some states. Talk to a knowledgeable insurance broker.
It takes money to do options 1 or 2, but if you were planning to retire at age 53 with no health insurance, that was a bad plan (sorry) whether you have diabetes or not. - There’s also the option of finding post retirement work at one of the companies that offers health insurance to part time workers. (I think Starbucks is doing that but not sure.) Work there long enough to get eligible for the insurance, quit and travel for 18 months while staying insured on Cobra, then get another job with insurance.
I am in a sort of similar boat. Got diagnosed 2 years ago when I was already scaling back at work and getting ready to retire and enjoy life. So I decided to keep working half time (my work has minimum 17.5 hrs./week to be eligible for insurance) until I find a reasonable insurance plan that can tide me over 6 years until Medicare kicks in. The half time turns into full time when I am in town and zero when I’m travelling, All I have to do is hit that 17.5 hrs./week average over the course of the year. Its kind of a hassle because I’d rather be retired but the part time work pays the bills for the insurance, copays, etc. that come with diabetes. Maybe there’s an option like that at your work?
Hi Quigley,
I totally understand, I’m in practically the same boat. I carry the insurance for me and my family and the current place is in chaos…I’ve never left a role or been cut when I needed insurance, so it’s a bit scary…but I’ve learned that as mentioned below, there are answers…like Cobra, and the marketplace and travel insurance.
You should note that insurance can no longer turn you down (or charge you more) for having an existing condition, a big benefit of the recent changes…