pat loughery

The NY Times takes another look at the phenomenon of 20-somethings, unable to get or afford insurance, stretching medications and taking a DIY stance on treatment. We’re wondering if you’re in the same boat.

The Times article describes how the young and uninsured get by on borrowing, trading, and stockpiling medications and medical equipment, seeking out free clinics and testing resources, and turning to net resources like WebMD to self-diagnosis and keep healthy.

via Ask The Readers: How Do You Stay Healthy Without Insurance?.

My family currently has medical insurance, but not dental.  It’s the first time in my career that we’re not fully insured.  I have to say that it’s scary.  If any of the four of us were to have any dental needs, we’d be screwed.  Dental insurance is more expensive than we can afford to pay, but we don’t have a nest egg to hit up in case there are problems.

More and more of my friends are in this same boat – lacking dental also, or lacking any insurance.  It’s a stressful position to be in.

For one weekend – TWO DAYS – last summer, I was without health insurance.  The last company I was at closed up shop on a Friday; on a Monday I started the new job with insurance.  I didn’t pay the > $2k in COBRA costs to remain insured, and took my chances.  On that Saturday- the next day – my son sliced his chin open when he jumped on top of me, and we went to the E.R.  $1500 bill, here you go.

Bit by bit, we’ve been trying to take care of that.  But I certainly can understand the plight of my friends who are uninsured for more than a weekend, and I worry along with them.

Theologically, I’m just not in the same realm as those who say that because we love and serve, God is obligated to cover our bills, or to keep us healthy.  I think God acts on our behalf, and miraculously, but I also know that my own financial choices or the reality of cancer or tooth decay can impact my family.  We pray and we hope, but we also realize that this time that we live in isn’t fully imbued with the presence of God the way that we’d hope.

We try to hope, and we try to trust.  And we aim at the center of God’s love for us as a family and as a society, and pray for the best.