What's Health Insurance, Mom?

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http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=17157

 

What's Health Insurance, Mom?Jennie Green, AlterNet

November 10, 2003

Last January, my husband -- a former (though not by choice) information

technology professional -- lost his second job in 18 months. The first time

around, a generous severance package made it possible for us to purchase COBRA

to the tune of $800 per month. It was a painful sum to spend for " peace of

mind. " But in the beginning of our journey into the woolly world of uncertainty,

we felt compelled to maintain as many as ties to mainstream society as we could.

 

When my husband's second employer went belly-up, however, 95 percent of the

employees were dismissed without notice or compensation. When the topic of COBRA

arose, we just rolled our eyes. " Eight hundred a month? " we snorted

simultaneously. " Right. "

 

But we worried. Once, when our 7-year-old daughter, Isabelle, jumped from a

surface that was about five feet off the ground, my husband blurted out the

first thing that came into his head: " Be careful, " he shouted. " We don't have

health insurance! "

 

" What's health insurance? " she shouted back.

 

My husband and I looked at each other with matching expressions of bewilderment.

" It's, um, money that you pay to a company, that will pay your doctor's bills if

you get sick, " I said.

 

" Why don't you just pay the doctor? " she asked.

 

" Because it's too expensive. "

 

A few weeks later, Isabelle and I were walking down the street in Brooklyn when

we came upon a folding card table that was covered with plush bunnies and

brightly colored flyers that said, " Care Plus. " The woman behind the table

gestured toward Isabelle, and asked: " Does she have health insurance? "

 

" Actually, no, " I said.

 

The nice woman explained to me that Care Plus was one of several healthcare

facilitators contracted by the state to manage Medicaid. Because of our downward

mobility, Isabelle would qualify for comprehensive coverage at a cost to us of

$9 per month. However, our combined income ($1,620 per month in unemployment

benefits, plus the small sums that I earn as a freelance writer and substitute

teacher) exceeded the maximum qualifying income for family coverage.

 

When I asked the Care Plus representative if she had any suggestions for how I

could score some affordable health insurance for my husband and myself, she

shook her head. " I'm afraid that if you can't afford COBRA, your only choice is

to pay out of pocket. "

 

" So who's going to take care of all those healthy kids when their parents get

sick because they can't afford to visit a doctor? "

 

" It's insane, " she admitted. " Uninsured adults often don't go to the doctor

because they don't think they're sick enough. But sometimes they are sick

enough; sometimes they even die. "

 

Isabelle, who doesn't miss much, asked me on the way home why her parents have

no health insurance.

 

" It has to do with politics, " I said. " And money. And certain people being very

greedy and very selfish. "

 

" Maybe you and Daddy could use my health insurance if you need to go to the

doctor, " she suggested.

 

I didn't want to tell her that health insurance for children is a cheap way to

appease the public because most kids don't get seriously ill. So I just replied,

" It would be great if it worked that way, " as I thought bitterly about the

billions that George W. spent on the war in Iraq, and billions more that he's

trying to spend on tax cuts for the wealthy.

 

Shortly after we got home, I Googled " uninsured Americans, " and found an

Infoalert fact sheet posted on May 20, 2003 by the United Steel Workers of

America. " The United States is the ONLY industrialized country in the world

without a national healthcare system that insures coverage for all, " it read.

And, " 18,000 Americans will die prematurely this year due to lack of

healthcare. " Recently, a leading story in The New York Times reported: " The

number of people without health insurance shot up last year by 2.4 million, the

largest increase in a decade, raising the total to 43.6 million, as health costs

soared and many workers lost coverage provided by employers. "

 

My heart sank. At 7, my daughter should fret over the well being of her favorite

stuffed animals -- not the fates of her uninsured parents. But our luck is

destined to change. My husband's unemployment benefits will soon expire, making

us poor enough, finally, for Family Care Plus.

 

Jennie Green is a freelance writer based in Jersey City, New Jersey.

 

 

 

© 2003 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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