Tithonus, a mortal, was so loved by Eos that she convinced Zeus to grant him immortality and bestow upon him eternal life.
Yet she forgot to request everlasting youth so as he aged, he withered, begging for death. Eos, out of pity, changed him into a Cicada; where to this day we hear him bab-ble.
Long life without good health is prison.
I have been more focused on the health care debate than many, in part because my wife and I fall in the five percent that received a cancellation notice from our insurance company. Informed that our plan would cease to exist, we could do nothing and the Insurance Company Deities would transfer us to a comparable high-deductible, basic coverage, catastrophic coverage plan with no effort.
Before one considers this an altruistic, benevolent, considerate deed, one must also know that our rate would skyrocket from $502 a month to almost $1,000. Being of a “certain age” where health care coverage is essential (and now required) and being of a “certain in-come” where spending more on said policy than on our mortgage is unacceptable, I researched.
My observations:
- We are one of those families who was not able to keep our health insurance — even if we liked it. (Being cynical by nature, that prompts for me a bigger question: Does anyone really “like” their health insurance plan or do they consider it a necessary evil like a root canal or paying taxes? I think the latter.)
- The Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) is not a government “take over” of health care; it reforms how insurance companies provide it and how we purchase it.
- The health care site in California (www.coveredca.com) is ridiculously easy to use.
- And here’s the best part! Through that site, our rate for a comparable policy plummets by $500. Yep, you read that right; it will cost us less to have catastrophic health care each month than to buy coffee in the hospital cafeteria should one of us be admitted.
I considered long and hard before providing my opinions as I realize that in today’s polarized world, anything associated with anything gets someone’s knickers twisted. Moreso, even reasonable folks can argue as to whether the changes are good or bad (although $500 per month savings is fantastic). I also believe that are better ways to ensure every-one has access to affordable heath care.
