Monday, March 22, 2010

Health Insurance Reform Passes

Freaking out? Here's a great party-neutral fact sheet of what you can expect the next couple of years.

For me, this means I don't have to spend my nights filled with terror about whether or not I'll be laid off or how we'll pay for J's cancer scans. It means I'm not chained to a day job for the rest of my life. It means that if I do start to make it as a freelance writer, I'll be able to afford to stay home and write books if I want to.

What a lot of people don't realize is that the biggest dream I lost four years ago when I got t1 was the dream of being a full time writer someday (that, and being a licensed scuba diver. Needless to say, the writer thing was far more tragic). It's going to be very interesting to see what kind of explosion in entrepreneurism we have now that we don't have to be employed in order to afford healthcare.

Is it a perfect bill? Of course not. It's going to be messy to implement, and people will freak out. It will be a rough ride. But when I explain the madness that was being uninsurable to my nieces and nephews in twenty years, they'll look at me like we were some kind of crazy barbarians living in a madhouse distopia.

And, to be honest, if you had an illness like mine, if you fought with insurance companies the way I did, if you had to scream and cry and beg for care you were actually entitled to (let alone try to afford uncovered care) - you were.

6 comments so far. What are your thoughts?

A.R.Yngve said...

Hey, congrats!

I grew up in Sweden... and while living there might be dull at times, at least we have universal health coverage and it's -- warts and all -- a Good Thing.

David Constantine said...

yeah it's huge news. amazing it had to be so controversial, but that's what happens when you've got an opposition without ideas and desperate to criticize anything the president proposes. If he said, you know, I'm into blueberry pie, next thing you know, that pie would be lambasted as #$# SOCIALIST.

Jennifer said...

As a full-time freelance writer myself, I am really glad to see this passed. Living without insurance is a scary, scary thing and I can't imagine doing it with a serious health condition. I checked into getting health insurance earlier this year and was made to feel that I was lucky they would agree to give me coverage at all at my age and with a preexisting condition, even at an exorbitant price. I'm 36 years old and my preexisting condition is epilepsy. I've had three seizures in twenty years. Three.

Working for yourself shouldn't have to carry the knowledge that you are one medical crisis away from financial ruin, or that you have to give up a career you love if you or your partner gets sick, or even decide to have children.

Hopefully this bill will at least be a good start in changing things.

Whew! That was a longer comment than I intended =)

Kameron Hurley said...

Mmmm mmmm socialist blueberry pie!!

Kameron Hurley said...

Jennifer - yeah, I'm facing a huge rate hike now that I'm switching jobs (last day job paid 98% of our premiums). Since it's employer-sponsored, they can't *deny* us coverage, but coverage across the board has taken a huge hike, and I admit it - I had a big moment of sticker shock.

David Bowman said...

Kameron,

Late to the game on the comment, but I completely agree. I am surprised that more entrepreneurs don't view this as a huge win. As someone who has a child with ongoing medical issues, I have lived in fear of losing employment and the ability to get affordable insurance. While I am now happily employed, the fact that in the event that for whatever reason I find myself unemployed at least have access.
Great Post!