I live in Texas. I make $17 an hour. My employer covers my health insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield. My health insurance comes with a $3,500 deductible. Preventative care specifically excludes management of chronic conditions. (Since the without insurance rate is cheaper than the rate my insurance negotiated, and I have to pay that rate to have it applied to my deductible, this works out to my employer paying to make healthcare more expensive for me. I can't even afford the without insurance rate.)
My health took a turn the worst last December after I got COVID and has been steadily and rapidly declining since. I haven't been able to afford the many doctor's appointments and labs that I would need to get better. All of my conditions are highly treatable. This has caused my physical and mental health to declined so severely that I've become too disabled to perform the functions of my job.
I've kept my manager well informed of the problem and I asked for a health plan without a deductible so that I could access the care that I needed and requested to go on short-term disability for a couple months to heal the damage that I've incurred. They said they couldn't alter my health plan but they could grant me the short-term disability if I could get the forms filled out by a doctor within 2 weeks. (I had already sent them my medical records confirming my diagnosed conditions.)
This wouldn't particularly help me since, even if I were on short-term disability, I still wouldn't be able to afford any of the medical care that would actually allow me to get better. I also highly doubt a doctor would fill those out after only the 1 yearly physical appointment covered by preventative care.
They suggested I apply for assistance.
If I fail to get the forms filled out by a doctor, they intend to fire me for not performing the functions of my job.
Is there anything I can do? Or am I just another of the many people being sacrificed to preserve our current healthcare system?