Went part-time, still can't afford healthcare

Health & Wellness Pain
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Dropped to 3 days a week in April. My rheum said full-time was unsustainable, and she was right. Five consecutive days and I’m in a flare for a week, neuropathy gets worse, whole body sitting at a 7. Three days actually lets me pace.

Pain clinic visits land on decent days. But the income cut is about 40%, and my insurance was tied to full-time employment. COBRA is nearly $800/month for the same plan. I know the medical reason I had to do this.

I’m a PT, and I know what central sensitization does over time. But knowing the right call doesn’t pay the bills. Does anyone else work part-time in healthcare and actually manage the financial part, or are we all just white-knuckling it?

edit: typo

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the question about “white-knuckling it” is the part I’d push back on. It frames a structural problem as a personal finance problem.

The system that employs you as a PT who understands central sensitization is the same one that financially punishes you for managing it correctly. That’s not a budgeting issue, it’s a design flaw.

The coordination gap here is that the incentive to keep a healthcare worker healthy enough to work doesn’t exist in the same channel that ties their insurance to full-time status. You’re not failing to manage; the system is designed to make you fail.

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