So, my husband has recently been diagnosed and hospitalized with a serious illness and I thought I'd share our experience and mistakes here for others to learn from. Most of this advice is specifically for those in the US, but plenty also applies to those in other countries. I also apologise for spelling and grammar in advance since I'm posting this from my phone.
Double check your health insurance benefits right now and verify that everything is being withdrawn correctly from your first two paystubs. If you find mistakes, or things that you thought you signed up for but didn't, now is when you'll want that corrected. You'll also want to save a PDF of your choices for your personal records and for future reference. We were confident that we had signed up for short and long term disability, but apparently we didn't and now it could be too late.
Check on other benefits that may be offered to you including voluntary life insurance and medical bridge benefits like hospital confinement, critical illness, and accident insurance. We've already hit our max out of pocket and these benefits are going to be our saving grace when the bills start coming in.
Look into other assistance programs that are available to you. An EAP can offer free or discounted counseling and legal help. Your company may also have an employee assistance fund that can help with extra expenses that have come up. Being aware of the benefits available to you can save you thousands.
If you have the option of an FSA or HSA you should probably sign up for these. There's some slight difference between the two but they're both pre-tax money that can be spent on eligible healthcare related expenses. This saves you about 30% right off the top.
Even if you're young, a living will and advanced directive can significantly help your dependents out in case the worst happens. My husband and I are both under 30 and I've unfortunately had to entertain the thought of what I would do if he died this week or if he ended up in a coma and I needed to make medical decisions for him. Our extreme medical circumstances went from healthy to catastrophic less than two weeks. So yes, even if you're healthy and young, this is something you need to discuss. It's even more important if you have assets or dependents.
If it is your responsibility to pay the bills/utilities, document the method that you pay these. If you're in charge of keeping the household bills paid and something happened to you, would your spouse or parents be able to easily pay the gas or electric bill? There are password managers that if you don't log in within 30 days, they'll send an alert to a person you've designated so that person can continue or stop payment on certain things. This can ensure that even if your significant other is completely ignorant about which gas company is yours, they can still keep the heat on.
We usually mention having six months of living expenses saved up. Most people probably count the mortgage, utilities, and other basic expenses into their calculations. I would also add one to two times the amount of your max out of pocket to this savings. This way, if it's a medical emergency that prevents you from working, you can afford your medical bills in addition to your regular medical expenses. Also, if you happen to lose your job and need coverage via COBRA, you'll be more likely to be able to afford the increased premiums while you look for work.
Lastly, if something major does happen to you, don't be afraid to ask for help. When things get bad, your friends and family will often say, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help." I promise that these are not empty platitudes. They really do want to help. We've been incredibly blessed and have had tons of help with all sorts of things this last week, we've even had our doorbell and garbage disposal fixed by people wanting to help in any way they can. If you need someone to watch your child or dog while you do to a job interview or visit someone at the hospital? Ask. Need a ride to the grocery store or need someone to pick up some milk and bread? Ask. Need a distraction and want a game night or movie night? Ask. I know it can be hard to accept generosity from others, but it's definitely worth it.
Feel free to add any other advice to the comments (or add corrections to my advice) and I'll add it to this post in an edit.
Submitted January 18, 2018 at 12:00AM by Noinipo12 http://ift.tt/2Dh1nCR
