Jade Lansing knows what it’s like to need health care and struggle with insurance companies. Now, thanks to help from the Vocational Rehabilitations Services division of Iowa Workforce Development, she’s in a position to help others find their way through that process.
In December 2017, Lansing was working as a Certified Nursing Assistant while home on Christmas break from her first semester at college studying to be a radiology technician. On December 17, she fell asleep behind the wheel of her car, was thrown from the vehicle, and woke up a paraplegic.
Now physically unable to work in her intended occupation, Lansing shifted gears – first to recreation therapy, then to health information technology. Along the way, there were dozens of questions that needed to be answered about careers, how to navigate college, how to search for work, and how to simply get around.
“All of this could not have been possible without Vocational Rehabilitation helping me along the way,” Lansing said. “They covered some of my books and tuition. They helped me get a modified van so that I could start driving again after my accident. After graduating school and starting my job search, they were there to help me get my resume, cover letter and references, search for jobs of my interest, prep for interviews, and prepare for the questions I could be asked…
“They really were there to help me through a lot to help me get back some of my independence again and find a job, so that I feel like I am being productive again.”
In October, Lansing started work in a temporary job as a scanning clerk for WinnMed in Decorah. Three weeks later, she was offered a full-time job doing insurance company pre-certification for the healthcare company.
Kayla Baxter, the vocational rehabilitation counselor who worked with Lansing, praised her willingness to take on part-time and temporary jobs – something that is especially important, Baxter said, when you have a disability and are just starting out.
“When people see the (wheel)chair, I feel like that’s part of it,” Baxter said. “Employers are reluctant to take a chance on them, especially with the lack of experience… But Jade has been willing to try different jobs just to gain that experience.”
Lansing praised Baxter for being quick to answer last-minute questions or to provide encouragement when she feared never getting a job. She looks forward to being able to help others in a similar way.
“I have been the person that has been denied services by insurance and having to appeal it,” she said. “So I understand the patient aspect of it and the irritation and frustration that comes with that. I can tell the patient that I get it from personal experience and actually mean it, because I have been there myself.”
For more about the programs available through Vocational Rehabilitation Services, visit the division’s website.