My Dirty Little Secret

I have a secret - or well, I had a secret.  A secret that would make me break out into a cold sweat - literally - if I thought about it much at all.  It was a secret I did not share with my dearest of friends or family.  My husband knew but we didn't talk about it.  The secret was that we - my family of four  - had no health insurance for over eighteen months - none - no HMO, no PPO, no major medical, not even NYS Child Health Plus.  Nothing.

And I was afraid.  Afraid of a simple slip on the jungle gym that might lead to a broken arm, afraid of a fever that might be a precursor to strep throat, afraid of a bumped head that might need a stitch or two.  And I was afraid to tell anyone we were insurance-less because I was embarrassed, it was scary and frankly, I couldn't see when it would end.  And, it changed "mom" conversation for me. You know, those conversations on the playground after school.  "Yeah, he's had a cough for three days."  Your mom friend suggests, quite innocently, "Call the doc, take him in, just to be sure."  But I knew if I did, well, there was another $175 and a scolding from the doc about no insurance.  Yeah, cold sweat time all over again. 

I can say now, there were a lot of other scary things to go along with the no health insurance at that time in our lives but gratefully those days are over for us.  We have health insurance, a comprehensive plan and not so expensive, comparatively - (through the Freelancers Union, for anyone interested).  Fortunately, too, we are a healthy bunch.  But our situation was not so unlike the place so many others find themselves today.  And I can only say from my perspective, that had there been a safety net of universal health care for me and mine when we hit this rough patch, I know I would have slept just a touch easier at night and maybe found myself out of the dilemma much quicker for it.

This is an original post to NYC Moms Blog.

Jessica is a writer living, currently insured, in Soho with her family.  She really thinks we'd all sleep a lot better at night if universal health care was the standard in the US.