Background

The article Feb 5th 2010 Lemondrop article by Allie Townsend entitled ‘Will Marry for Health Insurance’ — One Woman’s Desperate Quest‘, tells the unfortunate story of Terri Carlson. Ms. Carlson suffers from a genetic disease that greatly impairs her immune system requiring life long care. Until recently, Ms. Carlson, who had been a stay at home mother of 4, had health insurance through her husband. Then the couple divorced. Ms. Carlson was able to maintain her ex-husband’s health insurance under COBRA regulations but these regulations stipulate that this capability will terminate in early 2011. For a variety of reasons including her pre-existing autoimmune condition, Ms. Carlson has a limited ability to work outside her home, and been unable to get insurance through her employer. Determined not to be without health care coverage when COBRA runs out, Ms. Carlson recently launched a campaign to find a new husband — who has health insurance — before her COBRA coverage runs out.

Problems with Marrying for Health Insurance

While this action has done a great job of dramatizing the desperation of many Americans without health insurance or who are in jeopardy of losing health insurance soon, and has yielded Ms. Carlson over 1000 proposals so far, there is a big problem with this strategy for getting health insurance here in the USA.

Let’s say Ms. Carlson meets someone who is single, and has health care through his job. It is still quite possible that she will lose that coverage again very soon. For instance, consider these possibilities:

  • Involuntary Unemployment. Three months later, the economy tanks again and his employer lets him go. Now he’s on Cobra until it runs out. If he becomes disabled while he is between jobs, he may find it hard to get another job in his field. He may find it had to get coverage, except at HIPAA rates due to his pre-existing condition.
  • Small Business insurance turmoil. Or maybe he owns a small business and has a policy for his family, and the families of his two employees. When his health insurance contact comes up for renewal, he finds that his former insurance company doesn’t want to offer him a new policy, because their claims costs have increased since he married her. So he starts shopping for a new policy with a different insurer, but for that size company they want to know about the expense levels for the previous year, they either choose not to offer him a corporate policy, or their rates are so high that none of his employees will be able to afford them.
  • Divorce. Coverage would end if the marriage ends divorce. The probability of divorce is even higher the second time around. COBRA Coverage may be available, but for only a limited time.
  • Death. Her husband could be struck and killed by a car while he is cross an intersection in the cross walk. COBRA Coverage may be available, but for only a limited time.

All these scenarios could leave her in the same no health care situation she is in today, looking for a new way to get affordable health insurance before her current policy or COBRA ends.

Reccomendation: Find insurance not dependent on employment, or marital status

My recommendation is that Ms. Carlson amend her search and look only for men who can guarantee her PERMANENT health insurance — health insurance that she can keep even if he loses his job, can’t get his policy renewed, divorces her, or is killed.

Reside anywhere in the industrialized world (except the US!)

Her choices are not limited solely to choosing among Canadians and Americans who live in Massachusetts. All she needs to do is to marry someone who lives in ANY other industrial nation, or is willing and able to immigrate to any such country. Once she becomes naturalized in that country (or a legal resident of Massachusetts) she will have coverage that can’t be taken away from her regardless of what happens to her spouse.

That means she really can marry for love, she just needs to insist that after they marry they both are agreed that they will resided in a civilized part of the world where every resident is guaranteed health insurance, regardless of their marital status or current employment status. For someone who loves really her, that shouldn’t be too big a request to make.

States that ensure health insurance available to all

Perhaps by that time, there will be other progressive states like Massachusetts that rise to the challenge of providing health insurance for all their residents regardless of marital and current employment status. There is a growing movement to do so in California now.

Someday, USA?

Perhaps someday the conservative minority in the senate will decide that maintaining the health insurance status quo that keeps Terri and millions of other uninsured people in this mess is no longer preferable to even the weakest passable plan that ensures coverage for All Americans. And then at least some plan will pass that will ensure no American will ever again suddenly discover that their health insurance can disappear, or that the coverage they have will turn out to refuse to pay for the care they need.

Will All Americans Be Able to Access the “World’s Best Health Care“?

When that day comes maybe the supposed “World’s Best Health Care” the US has will be available to ALL American citizens, not merely some currently employed people, their spouses and minor children, and the wealthy foreigner’s of the world. Then Americans like Terri can enjoy the health security that citizens of the world’s other industrialized nations take for granted. Then Terri can live anywhere in the US — without her marital status affecting her health insurance coverage.