A Minnesota woman is not okay after she lost her medical assistance. After struggling so diligently with her health for most of her life, she thought starting a full-time job would be a godsend. However, she quickly found out that she won’t have the healthcare to help her with her chronic illness.
Ashley (@ashleylunaandnovi) says she’s crashing out because she no longer has the medical assistance she was relying on. As somebody who is disabled and faces chronic illness, she says she’s going to face many struggles. She tells her audience, “A lot of us are forced into poverty to keep healthcare coverage.”
Ashley says she understands how challenging it was for her to even get to this point. She “spent a full year unemployed” before she found full-time work. During that year of unemployment, she was able to meet her healthcare needs through medical assistance. She says, “Having medical assistance has helped me so much in the last year.” Namely, Ashley says it assisted her with endometriosis, a heart-related issue, and receiving a full hysterectomy. She also experienced an emergency surgery that caused her to lose “600 milliliters of blood.” It’s safe to say that medical assistance is virtually life-saving.
Now, Ashley said her full-time job leaves her with no option but to switch from medical assistance to a high-deductible insurance plan. On top of that, she’ll “receive zero medical coverage until I pay $2,400.” She won’t be able to afford the life-saving medications she needs to function. She’ll have to pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket for inhalers just so she can manage her asthma. All of this is happening just because she decided to work a full-time job so she can make money and survive. So many Americans are facing the exact same scenario.
Ashley says that everybody has conditioned us to “believe that this is normal” when it’s not. She goes on to say that we should be able to afford “basic necessities” to survive, including decent healthcare coverage. As she explains, “I’m sick of being gaslit by people thinking that a 2,400-dollar deductible is cheap when in this economy, it’s not cheap when gas is raising in price by the day.”
One commenter stated, “It feels like there’s never a way for good people to actually win and I want to scream.” Another shared, “I’ve been looking for a PART time job just to help my routine and socializing and I can’t even find that. Tons of skills, bachelor’s degree, 6 years of barista service and I can’t find [expletive].” Other commenters agreed that it’s time for change. According to one commenter, “Universal healthcare is long overdue. Healthcare is a human right.”
Since posting her video, Ashley has received comments from various supporters who share their opinions and say they’re going through the same thing. Her video continues to garner support not only for her but also for so many others dealing with healthcare-related issues.
