Open Enrollment
It's that time of the year again when your workplace has announced that it's time to select your health plan for the upcoming year. For those of you who haven't had to endure such an experience due to not being from the United States (or because you're too wealthy to have to concern yourself with the various ways the average person struggles), health care has been made into a game of sorts in the US of A.
It's no secret that health care is ridiculously expensive in the United States. Stories of families having to crowdfund in order to save their loved ones from preventable illnesses or big operations are abundant and often touted around by big news outlets as viral "feel-good" stories. The game that you play is trying to figure out how much access to health care you are okay with forgoing. You can either pay exorbitant amounts for an expensive plan that takes out massive chunks from each pay check you receive in order to have full access to preventative care and medications, or you can retain a larger chunk of your pay check by depriving your ability to access and interface with the larger health care system. How much money can you keep for yourself without perishing due to lack of medical care? Have you somehow found the magical balance that allows you to accrue financial wealth while accurately predicting any future medical expenses? It drives me crazy that in the wealthiest nation in the world, the elite and powerful have somehow concocted a system where civilians must figure out to what degree they must deprive themselves of medical services in order to simply survive.
Earlier this year, I had a big medical emergency that caused me to have to go to the emergency room and fork over a pretty penny. Having also witnessed their family members go through large medical events, the entire issue has been weighing heavily on my mind. It's tough to determine how much I value my own self and my own life. But at fear of cutting my life prematurely short, I think I will be shelving out the insanely large chunks of money this upcoming year to afford a more "premium" plan. I don't want to be unable to afford going to the emergency room when suddenly facing a life-threatening medical event. I don't want to have to worry about calling an ambulance when my life is on the line and time is of the essence. And I just don't want to have to determine how much my life is worth in dollars while I watch our elected leaders decide to play political games for their own gain while millions of people lose access to healthcare. What a sick world we live in that we punish the poor for simply existing. For daring to dream of a future where anyone can have food, shelter, and medical care for simply being.