Go Suck Hose Water!

Does anyone else find it absurd that the only people who can get health insurance are the ones who don’t really need it? That’s right—those of us with pre-existing conditions, or chronic diseases, or hideous multiplying warts, or a need to sit on a therapist’s couch, or any other of a host of medical scenarios—we are the folks that insurance companies don’t want to touch with a ten foot pole! (And no, those conditions do NOT all apply to me. If I had warts, I probably wouldn’t cop to having them—at least not in print.)

Let me see if I can put my recent experiences in a nutshell.

-         Workplace closes. Lose job. Move back two spaces.

-         Pay into COBRA for umpteen months with government subsidy signed by the president. (Affordable, thankfully!)

-         Pay into COBRA after government subsidy expires. (Not affordable, but I can squeeze by for a few months.)

-         COBRA expires. Offered HIPAA insurance. (Nowhere near affordable.)

-         Looked for options beyond HIPAA and was offered major risk pool insurance. (Costs more than the HIPAA!)

-         Spent half an hour banging my head against the wall.

Meanwhile, the folks at the insurance company, which shall remain nameless, are practicing their evil villain laughs… MWAAAAAHAAAHAAAAHAAA!

Long story short, (too late), now I wait to see if the government will help me out. As a conservative, this is kind of a mixed bag for me. I believe the government needs to spend less, yet the only possible way I will be able to be insured is if they give me a hand. Ah, sweet irony.

So, to sum up, I am willing to pay reasonable premiums, but no one will insure me unless I pay them in body parts. The health insurance industry has basically told me to go suck hose water.

Lousy aftertaste, hose water.

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Down and Dope-y

In a strange slice of coincidence, right after I posted about the FaithWriters website, the server died and the site went down. How’s that for timing? Thankfully, our fearless leaders have it up and running again! (God bless Scott and Deb!) Alas, I shall have to wait another week for my yellow boxes. Bring on the chocolate.

Speaking of going down, is anyone else ready for the pre-November mudslinging to stop? We have a gubernatorial election in California this year, so you can imagine the frenzy of political ads. Honestly, I’ve started to tune them out. Don’t get me wrong—I am very much an advocate for being an informed voter—but if I get one more piece of junk mail touting Jerry Brown’s straight talk (with Meg Whitman’s face plastered all over it), I will be able to re-wallpaper my bathroom!

And in other “truth is stranger than fiction” election news…there is a proposition on the ballot to legalize marijuana. They want to make it legal for anyone age 21 or over to be able to have, grow, or transport weed legally. If it weren’t such an awful idea, it would almost be laughable. I can see the headlines now: “California Passes Bong Bill, Still Bickering Over Budget.”

Advocates for the prop say it will weaken drug cartels and generate tax revenue. Opponents point out drivers will be able to consume marijuana right up until the moment they get behind the wheel, thus endangering public safety.

Things could get very interesting if this sucker passes. Visions of psychedelic potlucks are dancing in my head. Bring your own picnic basket, folks. Who knows what Joe Schmo put in those brownies? Sigh. What a waste of perfectly good chocolate.

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