SOC Sunday: Health Care Crisis

I tend to stay away from anything too political here on my blog, but the whole health care drama hits very close to home. It actually hits my pocket book every month... pretty hard. And come January 1, it's going to start hitting even harder.

I have been on my own independent Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama plan since I turned 25. Even though Obama extended the health care age limit to 26, it was cheaper for my mom (since she is single) to come off the family plan and for me to get my own plan. It wasn't terribly expensive - maybe $100 or so? I had a dental rider, too. My co-pays for visits were $40 (where they used to be $20) and the plan covered most prescriptions with a reasonable co-pay.

Last November, BCBS sent me a letter saying my premium was going up, my plan changing, blah blah blah. I honestly didn't have time to worry with it because I was so busy with school. So, my monthly premium went up to $115, my deductible stayed the same, but my co-pays for prescriptions went up.

This November, I got ANOTHER letter with the same news - monthly premium raised to $135, same deductible, same co-pays. I just couldn't take it anymore, so I switched to a new plan.

On January 1, I'm going to be covered by a low premium, high-deductible plan. I lose my dental rider, but my monthly premium will be less than $100. I guess the advantage is that I will really only pay for medical care that I actually use (and I am hardly ever sick and take no prescriptions). I can only pray that nothing significant happens, and I pray even harder that I can get a full-time teaching job so I can get on with the state's insurance. Despite the fact that teachers' insurance premiums are rising, they'll be a welcome relief to what I am having to pay now!!!!

That is all!

This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

• Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
• Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
• Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
• Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post.
• Link up your post below.
• Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.