There's a fair bit of teeth gnashing going on at chez Becca tonight. You see, we've dipped our toes into the water and started searching for health care coverage...our government subsidized COBRA coverage will soon expire, and the cost to maintain this current policy will almost triple. So we looked into the new independent plans offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield, only to find these plans cost just as much and provide less coverage. Grrr.
When it comes to health care, we've been pretty spoiled. My husband's workplace has always provided us with group coverage, and even though we've had to contribute to the cost, it's never been prohibitive. But now that Jim is self-employed, and my part time job doesn't include health care, we're on our own. And let me tell you, that's a frightening place to be these days.
Insurance is one of the things about modern life that makes me really angry. I resent being hamstrung by the whole process. You absolutely cannot live in 21st century America without health care coverage - not unless you want to risk bankruptcy. And the cost of decent coverage is outrageous - we're looking at spending more than half of my monthly salary for health insurance. How much am I going to resent that? Knowing that the fruits of two weeks worth of work every month are going to line the coffers of some rich insurance agency.
And because my work involves insurance related matters (auto insurance claims), I also know just how capricious and wasteful insurance companies can be. Just today, a major insurance carrier we work with reinstated benefits for a woman who is clearly a drug addict, has been totally non compliant with treatment for the past two years, and is obviously only interested in bilking the system to maintain her addiction to pain killers and pay her boyfriend to provide her with "attendant care". All this while a good friend of mine is fighting Blue Cross tooth and nail to get them to approve a stem cell transplant that could cure her leukemia.
Grrrrrrr.
If I could, I think I would abolish the entire insurance system and go back to the days when we were all responsible for paying our own medical bills, making sure that those medical bills were "reasonable and customary" (favorite insurance bywords). The whole thing is just out of control.
And I have no idea how it can ever be fixed.