Face it: One of these days you're going to be sick. And we don't mean sick of having to find a new way to describe "double penetration." Will you be able to afford to visit the doctor?
It's a good question. A whopping 50 million Americans don't have health insurance. If you're one of them, you may face long waits at emergency rooms to get routine care - as long as 24 hours in some hospitals in California.
Yikes! But there are ways for almost anyone to get decent coverage. Just be ready to hit the emergency room once you get a look at the prices: they'll give you a coronary.
Here are some of the best ways to get health insurance:
Get a job
While some companies are abandoning health coverage, plenty still offer it and lots will help out by paying part of your premium.
There's another perk to getting coverage through your job: Your coverage will typically be guaranteed. That means you'll be insured even if you have pre-existing medical conditions. (Those are a major challenge for the self-employed. More on that in a moment.)
Getting a full-time job, of course, means less time for your cyberporn pursuits. But some companies - like Trader Joe's grocery stores - offer health coverage to part-time employees.
Marry someone with coverage
If your wife or husband has a job that offers coverage to spouses, look into it. The cost may be expensive, but at least you won't go without.
If you're gay and living outside of California or Massachusetts, where marriage is legal, check out the laws in your state regarding domestic partnerships. You may be eligible for insurance if you have a domestic partnership and your partner has group insurance at work. (In some cases, straight people can apply for domestic partnerships too, so that could be an option.)
Buy coverage on the individual market
If you're young and healthy, this is a good way to go, especially if you're self-employed. Health insurance companies will want to have your business because you probably won't cost them much. Drop by eHealthInsurance.com to learn more about plans and prices for just yourself or you and your family.
And if you're not entirely healthy? Depending on where you live, you may be in big trouble.
When insurance companies offer coverage to an entire company, they figure some people will be sick but more will be healthy. Over the long run, the money they pay out for claims should be less than the money that comes in from premiums, allowing them to make a nice profit.
When they offer coverage on the individual market, there's no reason for insurance companies to fool around with people who already have medical conditions. So they just won't insure them.
If you're too fat, have high blood pressure or take an antidepressant, insurance companies will typically not insure you on the individual market, no matter how much you plead. The same goes for a huge list of medical conditions like asthma.
Find a health insurance broker
A broker may be able to help you find coverage if you can't get any online. Just be careful: In recent years, some brokers have steered customers into fraudulent "association health plans" that are run by crooks.
Be very wary if your broker suggests you get coverage from a health plan that you've never heard of. It's not a bad idea to Google the company's name to make sure it hasn't gotten in hot water anywhere.
Join a high-risk insurance plan
Many states offer special insurance plans for high-risk people who just can't get coverage anywhere else.
But there's a catch. These policies can be extremely expensive. You may end up paying $6,000 or more a year - for one person. And the policies may not offer that much coverage.
There may also be a waiting list, meaning it could take months for you to get covered.
Grow old
You can get Medicare coverage after the age of 65, although it's not that great and many people have to buy supplemental insurance to pay for what Medicare won't cover.
Wait until Congress fixes the nation's health insurance mess
If you think that will happen anytime soon, head to the nearest neurologist. You need some brain surgery.
-- By Andy Winterbottom
This article originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of AVN Online. To subscribe, visit AVNMediaNetwork.com/subscribe.
