Here's a problem with employer-based health insurance
I'm pretty sure that most health insurance (for those of us younger than 65) in the US is provided by employers.
As some of you know, one of my sisters has been battling lung cancer for the past two years. At the time of her diagnosis, she'd been working for a BigCo for almost two years. Prior to that she'd been a part-time office person for a local architect. And before that she was a full-time mom. She got back into the work force after her divorce. The architect didn't provide health insurance. Typical for an operation that size. (Although, I'd like to point out that when I had employees, I provided health insurance starting with the first hire.) At BigCo, she had great coverage. Which is great. Except, she's been on disability two years this month. As a consequence, her policy will be downgraded. We're not clear yet what the implications on her care (or the families' finances) will be after the change, which takes effect January 1. But someone determined that after two years, you don't get to keep the same insurance. Which is a total bean-counter move. Because anyone who has been on disability for two years probably still needs the coverage, or they'd be back to work. And if you're telling me that 92% of those covered need to be thrown out because 8% are cheats, well, we need a have-a-heart class for you. And yes, we've marveled that she's been on disability longer than she worked there. If she were laid off, she'd be able to buy the same coverage, thanks to COBRA. It's expensive, but not as expensive as chemo. But, she's on disability. So far we haven't found a way to pay extra each month to maintain the current policy. The best I can come up with: 1) She needs to come off of disability long enough to get laid off.
2) Someone needs to marry her. I can't think of any other way a cancer patient could get covered, in the United States. Anyone who says the current system is just fine hasn't stressed it. And one day you will.
As some of you know, one of my sisters has been battling lung cancer for the past two years. At the time of her diagnosis, she'd been working for a BigCo for almost two years. Prior to that she'd been a part-time office person for a local architect. And before that she was a full-time mom. She got back into the work force after her divorce. The architect didn't provide health insurance. Typical for an operation that size. (Although, I'd like to point out that when I had employees, I provided health insurance starting with the first hire.) At BigCo, she had great coverage. Which is great. Except, she's been on disability two years this month. As a consequence, her policy will be downgraded. We're not clear yet what the implications on her care (or the families' finances) will be after the change, which takes effect January 1. But someone determined that after two years, you don't get to keep the same insurance. Which is a total bean-counter move. Because anyone who has been on disability for two years probably still needs the coverage, or they'd be back to work. And if you're telling me that 92% of those covered need to be thrown out because 8% are cheats, well, we need a have-a-heart class for you. And yes, we've marveled that she's been on disability longer than she worked there. If she were laid off, she'd be able to buy the same coverage, thanks to COBRA. It's expensive, but not as expensive as chemo. But, she's on disability. So far we haven't found a way to pay extra each month to maintain the current policy. The best I can come up with: 1) She needs to come off of disability long enough to get laid off.
2) Someone needs to marry her. I can't think of any other way a cancer patient could get covered, in the United States. Anyone who says the current system is just fine hasn't stressed it. And one day you will.
posted by Lee at 12:04 PM
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