I'm a big time PF reader but this is a throwaway account. As the title states, I have within the past week been diagnosed with Cervical Cancer. 37 yrs old. I have 6-8+ months of treatments ahead of me. I've owned my own business for about 7 years now and I live in a large (and expensive) city for my career. I have no insurance (I know, I'm an F*ing idiot) and have been given advice from the hospital's social worker to apply for disability so I can qualify for Medicare since open enrollment is not until Dec.
I don't want to do this for several reasons, mainly b/c A. I don't want to leech off the system b/c I was stupid and gambled not buying insurance and B. I'm afraid stopping my work for even half a year will ruin my career (very competitive industry).
BUT, my DR and the hospital social worker are insisting there is no way I'll be able to pay for several months of treatment out of pocket. I have already paid a little over $50k for the recent surgery I just had and my 3 day hospital stay (this was after a big hospital discount). My savings is now down considerably and I have only another 50k left.
So, PF, my question is.. are there ANY other options I have? From what I've researched, while I can get gap insurance to cover me until open enrollment, they don't cover pre-existing conditions, so that doesn't do me any good.
Secondly, if going on disability IS my only viable option, am I able to legally continue working and hire/pay someone to help me and just not pay myself a salary so that I remain covered? My business is filed as an S-Corp.
I don't want to do anything illegal or commit any kind of fraud.. I'm just looking for legitimate ways I can still keep my clients and continue working (even if just PT) without having to pay myself so that I can qualify for Medicare, if that's my only option. The income is not as important to me as I'm thankfully able to move home during treatments where my family can take care of me. I rent (am able to get out of my lease w/ notice), have zero debt and car is paid off.
Any advice, big or small, would be really helpful right now as my head is spinning and my world is about to completely change.
Thank you in advance!
Submitted July 05, 2017 at 07:34PM by throwaway117878 http://ift.tt/2trq5MK
