Chronic Diseases Can Come With Chronic Financial Pressure NYT | Top Stories Carly Stern 5 November 2024 at 00:00 For millions of Americans, paying for the treatment needed to manage their diseases can become its own lifelong problem. © Marissa Leshnov for The New York TimesShannon Hart had to leave her job at a software company because of the effects of rheumatoid arthritis. Chronic diseases can hinder people’s ability to work, making medications more difficult to afford.