Woman from ‘poorest county’ in NY makes less than $400 a week. Then the state told her she ‘makes too much money’ for health insurance

A woman who says she lives in Franklin County, New York, has described in a widely viewed TikTok video how she earns less than $400 a week and struggles to cover basic bills. In the video, posted by user @rollingstoned.2005, she said she was denied state assistance for health insurance and heating costs after being told she makes too much money. “You ask the state, Hey, can I get some free or reduced-cost health insurance? The state, they say, ‘Nah, nah, you make too much money, you’ll be fine,’” she said. 

According to the video, she lives in a trailer with a monthly payment of $1,460. She said her bank account was negative $35 at the start of one month after a credit card payment posted a day late, and that an overdraft fee later pushed the balance further into the negative.

The woman, identified as Christine in her bio, said she had not been paid for three weeks at the time of the video because her employer had allegedly failed to pay her. She said she has looked for other jobs but has not been hired, which she attributed to a lack of experience.

Video details mounting bills and high-interest credit card debt

Christine captioned the video: “Reality of living in the poorest county in NY.” Franklin County is one of the poorest counties in New York. According to the Census Bureau and the American Community Survey data cited by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Franklin County had a poverty rate of 26.2% between 2020 and 2024. Only six counties in the state had higher poverty rates. 

Christine said she pays $298 a month for car insurance covering two vehicles, both more than 20 years old, which she said she owns outright. According to her account, this covers the minimum liability coverage required in New York, at $10,000. Housing costs of this kind have pushed some renters to consider unconventional ways to cut monthly costs.

Christine also claimed that she has received notices for unpaid propane, water, sewer, electric, and Wi-Fi bills, including a letter warning that her Wi-Fi service would be shut off if payments were not made. She said she was making payments but that they were not enough to satisfy the amount owed. She also said she has about $10,000 in credit card debt, with interest rates she described as between 29 and 31 percent. 

According to the video, she has gone without buying food for three weeks because of her financial situation, relying instead on items she described as stale pita crackers and, on one occasion, a combination of alcohol and flour. She said her cats are fed daily, even when she is not eating.

Christine said she previously had health insurance through a former job for three months, during which she paid close to $500 without using the coverage. She said she later asked the state for free or reduced-cost health insurance and was told she made too much money to qualify, despite reporting income of less than $400 a week and having gone unpaid for three weeks at that time. 

She also said she experienced pain she described as feeling like her insides were “trying to turn themselves inside out,” though she said she has not been able to see a doctor. Other tenants have also raised concerns over housing affordability, including one case where a landlord asked renters to cut utility use to help keep monthly rent stable.

According to the video, one of her credit cards has a balance of more than $5,000, which she said was used to pay for tires for both of her vehicles so they could pass New York State vehicle inspection. She said the vehicles had no mechanical issues requiring repairs beyond the tires. She said she also contacted the state for help paying for propane and was again told she made too much money to qualify for assistance.

The video, which has drawn significant engagement online, includes numerous comments from viewers. One commenter wrote, “I’m honestly scared for folks this winter.” Another wrote, “Overdraft fees should be illegal.” A separate commenter suggested that “volunteering at your local food pantry helps your resume experience,” adding that food pantries can also provide food assistance.

Another viewer commented that laws exist in all states against employers failing to pay workers, writing, “Find you an attorney that only gets paid if you win and that specializes in labor laws,” and stated a belief that there is a cap on credit card interest rates “at 28 percent.” It is to be noted that no single national cap applies to credit card interest rates, according to Congress, and rules vary by state and card issuer.