Remember all that talk about ensuring folks unemployed through no fault of their own get "affordable" health insurance? Good. It's called COBRA, which is an acronym for something. Apt. The bugger has a bite. When Sweetie gets laid off (which will be either the end of this month or the end of next month, they haven't decided yet, but probably THIS month), he can pick up the same insurance his employer was providing for him and one dependent--for $580 a month.

"Sacre bleu!" you say, "That's a bunch of money!" And you are right, mon ami. But we picked up our prescriptions today. Guess what? They totalled around $500 in real money. For a month. Yup. We actually paid $90-some odd dollars in co-payments, though. Okay, let's say we saved $400 on the deal. So if we pick up the COBRA, what it means (for us) is we're paying about $180/month for doctor visits and such. Doesn't look so bad now, does it? (We had physicals today--$10 co-payments only and the lab tests were included.)

We can afford COBRA for maybe two months, three at a stretch. God knows how other people making less money do it. Well, I guess they don't.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

Answers

They don't, OG. One family I know has banned their kids from any sports where they might become injured. The parents made it very clear to these middle schoolers that the family will go hungry if anyone gets hurt because there isn't any insurance and the hospital will be paid with grocery money. They make too much money to get any gov't aid (!)

I know they're hurting. They cut off cable, sold their second car, made the kids get after-school jobs . . . they're not just playing. Their house is going on the market next week.

Theirs is not the only tale of woe I've heard lately, either.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

I was buying our dental coverage through COBRA after I retired. My company must pay for all my family medical coverage during retirement, but not the dental coverage. This is in accordance with what the union had bargained for us. So don't bash unions too much, as I'm sure I wouldn't have that without them. The COBRA was only available for 18 months though, which I was told was the time limit. After that I just dropped dental coverage since private dental insurance is just too expensive for what you get back. Medical coverage under COBRA is supposed to be at the same rate the company is paying for it while you were employed there.

Just goes to show what that little "fringe" benefit was worth. Very few people realize how much their employer is putting out for all the various extras they receive, beyond their simple pay check. They pay half of your social security cost on each paycheck, for example. Whatever you have shown on your paycheck as a social security deduction the company pays an equal amount to the government as well. The extras really add up sometimes, especially if they are putting aside money for your retirement as well. Usually you have to serve a minimum number of years with them to be fully vested in a retirement program but if you do that it's worth a big chunk of money to you that you didn't have to put out yourself.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

We went without insurance when hubby was laid off because we couldn't afford the COBRA. Fortunately we had no major problem. You sound like you really need it and it is a worthwhile investment. We now have scrapped together a savings and would in the future just buy a major medical policy to handle the huge stuff with a big deductable. Much more affordable and protects the farm.

-- Anonymous, January 14, 2002

That's what we were going to do, Diane. BUT. They won't cover diabetics. Blue Cross/Blue Shield is the only co. in NC that will cover a diabetic, as I recall, and they exclude anything connected to diabetes. Well, um, just about anything can be connected to diabetes, if they try hard enough, lol! With 70% of diabetics shuffling off from a heart attack and all the nasty things that can happen (Waylon Jennings just had a foot amputated due to neuropathy from diabetes), well, I kinda hafta have the COBRA. Let's hope Sweetie can get a job soon--one that will last until Medicare kicks in.

I'm lucky in that my doc likes me (perhaps partially due to the Christmas candy I take over there every year. . .) and I know he would find a way to help us out if one existed. Same with the vet.

Gordon, don't know what it is now, but back in the late 70s when I knew about such things, in order to pay a secretary $12,000 (not a bad salary in those days), you had to allocate about $16,000 to allow for the cost of the fringe bennies (including vacation, sick days, etc., as well as insurance and SS). My health insurance was free and for a while, so was family insurance. Then it cost $16/twice a month for the family part, I think. Ha! The old days!

Right now, legal aliens cannot obtain food stamps, no matter if (like me) they've paid taxes for over 30 years. Bush is trying to change that, providing the individual has worked for a certain number of years. It's only fair--they did pay the taxes. Think about it--if we needed food stamps, only Sweetie would be eligible, yet the tax money I've paid over the years would go to food stamps to sustain a welfare queen who might never have worked or a drug addict.

I do know about a few programs that might be able to help but let's hope I won't have to look them up.

Things never used to be this complicated or this scary, did they?

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Old Git, things haven't been this complicated or scary for a lot of years, but good old Bubba set the stage for some real shockers. Starting about 1994-95 the financial foundation of this country went into some very risky territory. The real scary parts are yet to come, I think, but I'm just an eternal doomer now so maybe I'm wrong again.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

this is scary...we have paid for our own Medical coverage for the last 15 yrs. it is now just so high, we keep 'upping the deductable just to make the monthly payments. and I called not long ago...asked a hypathetical question...If one of us can into ER, and had to be admitted, what are we responcible for... bottom line ...each of us would have to pay 3500.00, be for it kicked in a 80-20......And we have no eye, dental, maternity..no frills at all! so ...we just CAN'T get sick!

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

I don't have any insurance at all. Also, I don't have a husband or family member to fall back on if something happens where I can't work.

I spend a lot of time practicing prevention. The biggest things I do range from not driving at night (unless absolutely unavoidable), getting the required amount of sleep, and carefully thinking through every potentially hazardous activity I do. Roller blading is out, for example.

Yes, this limits a lot things. That's just the way it is.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

Am I reading this correctly? If the majority of people CANNOT afford health care, then what keeps medical centers open? In my town, they just finished remodeling the hospital, and now a new medical center is in the works, and they broke ground last week to build. Where's the money coming from? I know for a fact that second generation welfare get medical attention for free, while those who have worked all their lives and find themselves in dire straits get zilch! Looks like welfare is the way to go. I'd rather be on welfare and alive than 6 feet under and proud.

-- Anonymous, January 15, 2002

I read once that 15% of all medical insurance premiums goes to pay for indigent care. I've also read several articles about some emergency rooms being closed because the financial burden is too great. The major reason giiven is that too many people were using them as a doctor's office, which I can believe, given the number of scanner calls I hear regarding ambulances sent for "stomach pain" or similar, in the middle of a weekday, for instance. I expect they have to be more perspicacious and plan their needs around their local community clinic.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002