employe insurance and schizophrenia

Hello JOHNNY,

I am sorry to hear that you have faced discimination in getting life insurance and are up against a brick wall in getting employed or finding health insurance.

Some things:

it's never a good idea to disclose your mental illness to an employer unless you aboslutely need a reasonable accomodation in order to perform your job, and even then, you disclose only after the job offer is made.  As you have a criminal history, I believe [in New York State, at any rate] an employer cannoat ask if you've been arrested, he can only ask if you've been convicted of a crime.  There are ways to answer that quetion that I can send you if you're interested.  You state what the conviction was for without goig into a long story or excuse why it happened, express your remorse for your actions, explain what you've done to change yourself and your lfie for the better since being convicted [like going to school or doing volunteer work or working at some kind of job], and lastly reassure the employer that you can do the job.  I understand that some job applications do ask if you've been convicted of a crime; in that case, you would have prepared a short, type-written synopsis covering the four points I just discussed in the last sentence so you can reaview it before a job interview, when hopefully you get one.

Lastly, I don't know that an insurance company can deny you coverage because of your mental illnesses; they can charge exorbitant premiums or exclude your "pre-existing condition" from being covered and still cover other medical conditions.  Barack Obama, by the way, has stated that his health plan options would eliminate the pre-existing condition clause.

I hope you find health insurance and a job soon.  I will be reading your SharePost after I'm done respeonding to you here.

Best regards,

Christina