I don’t even have/want kids! Why do I have to pay for them anyway?!
[Quick Rant]
So, tomorrow is the first day of my new job. Like most first days, it will be spent filling out paperwork, orientation, that kind of “fun” stuff. The one thing that always infuriates me to no end is the fact that I still have to pay the same rate for insurance as if I had 3 kids. My husband’s job offers minimal benefits, just sort of the bare bones stuff which is why we usually end up on mine. Logic would tell me that me plus my husband SHOULD be the single rate multiplied twice. NOOOO. We have to go on the “family” rate which is about 3.5 times the single rate. I’ve been told (because this has come up before) that most people on the family rate have children and this rate covers however many children they have. And I’ve always gotten the hated phrase “It is what it is.” I’ve always taken this to mean, “This is just how it’s done and we really don’t care that you don’t like it.” However, I DON’T HAVE KIDS! Why do I have to pay the same rate as someone with a brood of 15?
Just another example of how the healthcare system in America is broken…
February 10, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Oh, that would piss me off too. Wow, I’m lucky – my company does offer the single rate multiplied twice if your spouse is on your benefits plan. That is awful.
February 11, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I am fortunate to work for a company that offers single rates and then +1, +2, etc. I agree that it sucks that you should be required to pay for an inflated “family rate”. However, the company you work for probably negotiated those rates to provide the fairest premium for the majority of their employees. While you may not have a choice on what you pay through them, you do have a choice as to whether or not you wish to continue working for them. You can always find another place with a more agreeable health plan. Or use your husband’s plan. Or pay out the nose for a commercial/individual plan. Either way, it’s still better than being taxed to death to fund a nationwide health plan. So don’t think of it as the failure of the American health system. Instead try thinking of it as the success of capitalism and freedom of choice.
February 12, 2008 at 3:23 pm
AGREED
Thank goodness I have +1, +2, etc… shouldn’t have to bloody pay for someone else’s kids..
February 13, 2008 at 10:59 am
Hello, first time I post, I have to tell you that I like your blog.
On topic, yes it is really frustrating. My SO and I have each our own insurance, but if we’d have to be both on mine, I’d have to pay “family plan” also.
Each coverage should have the “individual”, “couple” and “family” options. And guess what? Ours have “individual, “family” and… “single mothers”. Yeah, a single mom can pay just for her and her kids, and I’d have to pay for imaginary kids if I had to cover me and my SO. That really sucks.
February 16, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Back in the early 90s, I had to pay a higher premium because I was “a female of child-bearing age” than my male co-worker who smoked like a chimney. Tell me who is the greater liability: the man who chain smokes 3 packs a day or a woman who will NOT become pregnant?
February 16, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I’ll take the national health plan, thank you very much. That way, I can switch jobs and not have to worry about pre-existing conditions, what prescriptions the different insurance plans will and will not cover, etc. I’d like to be able to take a job that I enjoy and I’m good at, rather than the one that offers the best health care. Because that’s NOT what working should be about.
And while we’re on the subject of a national health plan…I’ll pay MY FAIR SHARE of taxes to fund it…and people with children should have to pay THEIR FAIR SHARE, as well.