What's a Job Got to do With It?

I feel so fortunate to have the extensive benefits that are available through my former employer-sponsored health care insurance and through COBRA. I am able to go to almost any doctor and get every concern taken care of, including skin problems, dental checkups, eye exam, and any illness or major health problem, if I had any.

I am also very blessed to be in good health: no broken bones or accidents, no diseases or illnesses, no major health concerns. (Thank you good family genes!) However it's incredibly reassuring to know that I can be treated for any small concern I have and that my office visit, the lab tests, any procedures, and prescriptions are all or mostly covered by my health insurance. I still have out of pocket costs, but they are usually not terribly expensive.

Many Americans who do not have employee-sponsored health insurance (and I will be one of those people when my COBRA runs out) elect to purchase individual, private health plans (very expensive), go without insurance, or go without health care entirely unless some catastrophic emergency lands them or a family member in the hospital. And these are not necessarily all unemployed folks who fall into this category. Many who decide they must (due to financial concerns) forgo health insurance are people who work part time, are self employed, work as contractors or freelancers, or work for very small companies with no health care benefits.

A comment I have heard many times this year from my unemployed friends and colleagues is, “I really need to look for a job in order to be eligible for health insurance.”  Many of these are people who would love to do freelance consulting or be self employed and could probably make enough income to make it work…cover their mortgages, put food on the table, live a pretty normal life. In other words, they could be successful, taxpaying, small business owners, consultants, and freelance workers.

But there is the overwhelming fear of not having or not being able to afford health insurance…and the greater fear of “what if.” What if I get cancer? What if I have to go to the hospital? What if I have to have expensive tests? What if I get into a car accident and have serious injuries?  This becomes even more of an issue as people age (I’m talking middle age here, not the elderly) and become more conscious of the growing potential for something to go wrong.

Isn’t there another way to help make health insurance affordable for people who would like to achieve the “American dream” and be entrepreneurial and forge their own way?  We all know that it’s harder to find a professional, corporate (or government or association or healthcare or education) job as we get older--ask any middle aged person how many job interviews he or she has managed to arrange after sending out scores of resumes.

Does anyone really want to take a job just to obtain health insurance benefits? Of course, there is more to it than that…there is the regular salary and helping an organization reach its goals, and learning new skills, feeling a sense of personal achievement and satisfaction, and security.

If the rate of unemployment continues to grow, as economists predict it will (at least until 3Q10), then inevitably there will be more and more people without health care. I’m convinced that a good number of those people will never be employed by a corporation again, thus will not be eligible for employee health insurance.

Employee-sponsored health insurance is a wonderful thing. It would seem that the brilliant minds in this country should be able to put together ideas and a plan so it’s not the only option for people seeking affordable health insurance. 

Is anyone looking out for the best interests of the people?