Thank you, Congress
I make no bones about my general impressions of Congress being little more than P.J. O'Rourke's "Parliament of Whores." And I still contend that that impression is mostly valid. Yesterday, however, I finally found something that Congress did right. So, in the vein of giving credit where credit is due, here is a blue ribbon for the best pack of self-serving whores EVER!
You see, that other mysterious thing I've been keeping a secret involves a major change of life. And, it is the sort of thing that could impact health insurance coverage for a newly pregnant woman. Read between the lines, people. The very last thing - strike that - I'm not willing to be without health insurance for a single moment while I'm pregnant. Can you blame me?
So, I've been looking at the stop gaps for fixing this problem if we should choose to make that life change. Under our current health insurance, the baby will cost us a grand total of less than $100. For Everything. Really good insurance.
But this life change would mean switching insurance coverage and perhaps being on Cobra for a short while. Cobra would cost ~$800 per month. PER MONTH. Needless to say, I'm not real keen on this idea.
The other question seemed to be how long Cobra might be necessary. I was stunned to discover that it might be necessary for up to 6 months - a whopping $4,800 - because the new insurance might consider the pregnancy a "pre-existing condition" and therefore refuse coverage.
Naturally, this news infuriated me as it was yet another example of the inequity of the sexes. Viagra - covered by insurance, Birth control - not covered. My outrage was over the fact that pregnancy is not a disease! We aren't talking about a congenital heart problem or cancer here, folks. Women have babies everyday. The very idea of this treatment of pregnancy as an incurable disease had me so pissed I was ready to chuck the whole idea of the life change and start a campaign to light fires under my representatives' asses to get this ridiculousness fixed.
I am pleased, nay, ecstatic, to announce that a Congressional Conflagration will not be necessary. The law already exists. Insurance companies can't treat a pregnancy as a "pre-existing condition" and deny coverage. Or, so I've been told. I'm going to follow-up this afternoon with a conversation with an insurance professional who would know.
So, if true, I can say thank you to the whores.
