Teen Mom 2's Leah Messer Reacts To Criticism Of Her Medical Situation
"Teen Mom 2" star Leah Messer is addressing fans concerned about her medical coverage.
"Teen Mom" fans were quite critical of the mom of three when she admitted on the May 11 episode of "Teen Mom 2" that she did not have health insurance. "I would just be like, 'I'm not going to the doctor.' Because I didn't like going to the doctor. I would do everything to avoid going to a doctor. Now I'm like, 'Okay, this is like, serious. Medical insurance is important,'" she said to her sister in the episode. "Sometimes I don't think about it because my kids have medical insurance through their dads," she added. The revelation came about as the two sisters were discussing Leah's recent medical scare: a tumor she found in her right breast, as reported by The Sun in May.
Fans were quick to wonder why a young woman making a large amount of money from MTV wouldn't have her own health insurance. "She makes all that money on the show, her book, endorsements and she doesn't have health insurance? Smh," one disapproving fan commented under MTV's clip of the revelatory conversation. "Making 6 figure a year and no health insurance...are you kidding me?!!" another displeased fan wrote. A third fan shared the same sentiment, writing that it was "irresponsible" of Leah to not purchase her own health insurance.
Leah quickly noticed the comments and took to Instagram to clear up the situation. Keep scrolling to learn what she had to say.
Leah Messer wants people to learn from her journey
In a two-slide post to her Instagram Story on May 11, Leah Messer explained her medical insurance situation in response to fans' critical comments.
"I am seeing everyone's comments on my segments from the episode regarding health insurance and I wanted to address it," she began. "Growing up, health insurance was not a topic discussed in my household. Coming from a low income family, I was on state insurance until I got married and then was picked up on my then husband's insurance. I never had to learn about it or think about it for that matter," she explained. Leah continued on to say that she did not realize she could gain health insurance outside of "certain" jobs or being on a parent's or spouse's insurance plan. Luckily, she said she became more educated about the topic and eventually was able to secure her own coverage.
In the end, Leah hopes that her journey can help educate others about medical insurance and what options people have. "I hope people out there learn through what I went through and understand that there are options and resources out there if you find yourself in need of coverage but don't know where," she concluded.