Health Insurance

My allergies are finally here. I have been hoping that miraculously I would not be affected by grass seed and linden this year. But, alas...

What does that mean for the poverty project? Not much. But only because I have some medication left over from last year. On Monday I’ll be calling my doctor’s office to schedule an appointment. Likely I’ll be able to get in within a couple weeks to obtain a prescription before my current supply runs dry. The combination of a co-pay and the cost of medicine would be something that, if we were living in long-term poverty, would have to be paid for by credit card. Ultimately, we would be paying interest not out of convenience but out of necessity (my allergies are not only bothersome, they are debilitating).

This brings up the issue of insurance during our project. A few facts about the health insurance (from the Annual Report on Poverty in Utah, 2008):

* In 2006 Utah passed the national average for percent of population uninsured, at 17 percent.
* In 2007 over half of the uninsured were employed full-time and 17 percent were employed part-time.
* The top reasons for being uninsured were cost (62 percent) and that employers were not offering insurance (38 percent).
* 67% of the uninsured in Utah are living below 200 percent of the poverty line.
* 17% of children below 200 percent of the poverty line are uninsured.

Would my family have insurance at all, working two minimum wage jobs and living at the poverty line? My daughter would under the CHIP program. But for my wife and me? I hope we never have to find out.

Please let us know if you are reading this. Comment to us if we are missing important details, if you like what we are writing, or if you think that this whole trial is pointless.

Thanks,
Shawn