There is no good time to hear that you’ve been diagnosed with a chronic illness. Whether it’s a manageable medical condition like diabetes or a more severe, possibly terminal affliction like cancer, chronic medical conditions are a hurdle to living a normal life.
However, patients with chronic conditions don’t have to be resigned to their fate. It’s possible to maintain a healthy, fruitful, and productive lifestyle even after a chronic illness diagnosis.
With the proper knowledge of your rights, access to valuable resources, and advance planning, you can overcome the symptoms of your illness to live a full and rewarding life. From listing the laws protecting disabled citizens’ rights to showing you how to create your health care directive form, this article will teach you how to cope and even thrive after a chronic illness diagnosis.
Chronic Illness: A Challenging Hurdle
Being diagnosed with a chronic medical condition is not a cause for despair. The first thing to remember is that you are not alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 129 million Americans suffer from some form of chronic illness. These diagnoses range in severity from obesity and hypertension to cancer and heart disease.
Like you, most of these patients wish to live normal lives. Thankfully, many provisions help them do just that. Treating chronic illness is a major focus of the American healthcare industry. CDC data shows that it accounts for 90% of all healthcare spending in the country.
Managing chronic conditions is worth the struggle. From leading a more rewarding lifestyle to receiving more equitable treatment at the workplace, patients with terminal conditions can benefit from adjusting to their illness. Preparing medical directives and composing a will grants peace of mind to those facing serious health problems. No matter how severe your diagnosis turns out, you can take steps to mitigate its impact on your life.
Protecting Your Interests After a Chronic Illness Diagnosis
Just because you’ve been diagnosed with a chronic illness, that doesn’t mean you can’t live normally. Patients with chronic illnesses are eligible to receive financial support through Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD). Additionally, disabled individuals from the low-income economic bracket can also receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits if they meet specific criteria. Medicaid and Medicare are also two government-funded health insurance programs that disabled people can use.
There are also provisions to protect disabled people’s rights within the private sphere. For example, some private employers offer long-term disability (LTD) insurance that yields benefits in addition to SSD payments.
Legal Protections for Workers with Chronic Illnesses
If you feel that your workplace is discriminating against you based on your medical condition, there are some legal protections you can turn to. The two primary federal laws regulating the treatment of disabled individuals in the workplace are listed below.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The ADA mandates that employers make “reasonable accommodations” to meet the needs of employees with chronic illnesses. This could include improving accessibility features to allow physically disabled employees to navigate an office more easily.
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): The FMLA allows employees with chronic illnesses to take unpaid leave with job protection for up to 12 weeks a year to look after their health. This leave under job protection is also available for family members who serve as their caregivers for people with chronic illnesses.
Securing Your Future after a Chronic Illness Diagnosis
While you can learn to live with chronic illnesses, it’s reasonable to expect your health to decline over time. Thankfully, you can prepare for this eventuality before it happens. You can ensure that you will always receive the treatment and care that you want, even if you become incapacitated due to your medical condition.
You can draft various legal documents to protect your interests after being diagnosed with a chronic illness. Let’s look at the three most essential ones:
Medical Power of Attorney
This document authorizes an agent (also known as a healthcare proxy) to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated. It’s imperative to name an agent you trust completely, as they will make critical calls about your treatments at a very sensitive and vulnerable time.
Living Will
A living will is very different from a traditional last will and testament. While the latter is used to divide assets among inheritors after a person’s death, a living will is focused on healthcare. Your living will can outline the treatments you wish to receive and guide caregivers when you cannot communicate your wishes. Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, palliative care, life support, organ donation, and other instructions should be clearly outlined in a living will.
Advance Directive
An advance directive is a comprehensive legal document that combines the directions in a medical POA and a living will. Your advance directive (sometimes called health directive) will come into effect when your condition renders you unable to communicate. This document ensures that your agent and healthcare providers will respect your wishes even if you cannot directly articulate them.
Living with Chronic Illness Doesn’t Have to Be Painful
It’s possible to overcome chronic illnesses. Loss of vitality and mental faculties can be a scary notion. Still, you can avoid the worst of these outcomes by arming yourself with knowledge and taking the proper steps to protect your interests after a chronic illness diagnosis.
