I’m quite happy with it.

The logic of health insurance, especially of catastrophic insurance, seems to me entirely twisted: isn’t the biggest failure of the US health care system the lack of access to primary and preventive care? How are these high-deductible policies supposed to correct for that?

I’ve been described as reckless for not being enticed by high-deductible, “low cost” catastrophic care policies which would cost me three or four thousand dollars a year, and would cover only unusual or severe medical conditions.

However, I’m statistically more likely to see return on that money if I spent it on state lottery tickets. Which behavior is truly illogical?

I’m hoping for universal health care as well, Michelle, but really the idea of our gov’t in charge of it gives me the shudders!

Some less crappy companies give people “shared leave” benefits, where co-workers can donate their unused vacation time to someone with a serious health issue or tricky elder care responsibilities. A neighbor of mine has been going through chemo for breast cancer and thanks to a great job and bunch of co-workers, is able to take off the time she needs to get treated and get healthy again.

I wish your aunt all the best…

But some situations are truly tough. I recently had a conversation with my aunt, who is holding on to a job with an emotionally toxic environment that requires a two-hour commute both ways on the New York City public transportation. She says she can’t leave the job because she’s been diagnosed with latent-stage melanoma. Plus, “just 8 more years,” she says, ” and I will have earned a life-time pension with the company.”

Now, that’s one of those situations that makes my blood boil and makes me want to march out into the streets and start a revolution against insurance companies that hold us hostage to their dubious products - and while I’m at it, bring down the system that doesn’t provide normal pension levels for people who’ve worked hard their entire lives. Realistically though, given the system, what does a person such as my aunt do?

It’s all the more tough as I’m convinced that the toxic work environment and the constant negative emotional background is one of the reasons behind her poor health. Were she to leave the job, or at least scale back on it, her health would probably dramatically improve. But that’s a gamble - one that I’m not prepared to suggest to somebody else, even though it probably would have been my own choice.

I don’t pretend that I have a solution. It’s a very real and a very serious problem, both on the personal and systemic levels. I really want to believe that there are options - for example, exploring whether her company might still offer her health insurance if she scaled back on the hours she works or worked from home part of the time. On the other hand, we’ve all seen “Sicko”…

health insurance being tied to employers is a holdover from post-Depression era days, i believe, and it’s time that changed. especially now that companies offer far less job security and so many entrepreneurs and flex workers live in our midst.

i don’t think everyone would flee the cube in one fell swoop if the insurance problem were solved. there are many people who would rather eat glass than work for themselves without structure and a company to catch their falls. not that there’s anything nothing wrong with that.

Health insurance is the H-1B visa equivilant for U.S. citizens