In 1986 Congress passed a wonderful bill known as the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. They must have been very pleased with themselves having managed to produce such a meaningless acronym that spells the cool sounding COBRA!In the industrialized world there are only two countries that don't bother to provide basic healthcare for their citizens. One is South Africa and the other is America. Here in the States this has allowed a multi billion dollar industry of greedy insurance companies holding an escalating battle with medical facilities to see who can rape the American public the most. Both sides appear to be winning at this time. In fact this ugly little battle has pushed the cost of health care in America to over $5,000 per capita, more than double most European countries. Sadly all this extra money does not equate to better coverage or health care. In fact America usually ends up trailing in cases such as infant mortality, patient satisfaction, immunization rates, mortality rate, and percentage of people with access to health care.
But I digress. For those who are not part of the 35,000,000 people America now has as an under-class it is of little consequence. Professional people usually have health insurance which generally keeps costs at a manageable level for most families. As long as people live in ideal family units where either the husband or wife has health insurance though their job everything seems okay. That is until someone decides to change jobs.
When someone leaves a job this remarkable COBRA deal is supposed to offer stopgap insurance to protect people while they wait 90 days to be offered insurance through their new company. Unfortunately COBRA is a complete pile of shit invented by out of touch politicians who have no idea what it is like to be just an average person with an average income.
You see the fundamental flaw with COBRA is that people who have just left their job cannot afford it. My wife and I are in very good health and are both under 35. But to continue insurance through COBRA until her new insurance kicks in from her new job would cost us $1,200. That's $150 per week plus deductibles and co-pay just to keep our insurance.
I've spoken to a lot of Americans on the subject and it seems that very few of them elect to take COBRA because of the outrageous cost. So every day thousands of Americans join the ranks of the 45,000,000 Americans who have no insurance. For those lucky enough to be in an above average job this amounts to a minor inconvenience and a loss of coverage for just 60 or 90 days. Unfortunately for some Americans they may never get insurance because their job is not good enough, or they are unfortunate enough to be poor or unemployed.
America is the richest country in the world, yet the rich poor divide is growing year on year. It really is a sad state of affairs when America is in the company of a country like South Africa when it comes to health care. What's even sadder, is that this problem does not need to be fixed with a massive tax increase or other sacrifice. We are already spending more than enough to have a world class all-inclusive health care system for every American. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way that money is being funneled out of health care and into the pockets of greedy bastards who don't give a shit about anyone but themselves.
I decided to decline my COBRA coverage. If I get sick before our new insurance starts on April 1st I'll spend less money on a flight to England, where I can get my health care for free.
