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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 The insured aren't always ensured By Julie Muhlstein, Herald Columnist Feeling fine and covered by insurance, I'm still facing a health care crisis. It's short-lived, but frightfully expensive. It's also an up-close -- way too close -- look at what happens to a household budget when any family member is excluded from health coverage. So what's up? As always, I'm working full-time. I pay for full family health coverage, and with every paycheck I see the hefty payroll deduction that comes with it. My family includes a 9-year-old and two adult children, ages 21 and 24. My 24-year-old is a full-time student, which qualifies her to be covered under my health plan -- but only until she turns 25. Her birthday is March 18. That's two months before she graduates from Seattle University School of Law. She's among the younger members in her class, but she'll soon be too old to be covered by my health plan. This kid has done everything by the book, from earning scholarships to supporting herself in school. She expects to be employed by August. There's no way, though, that in her last two months of school she's ready to take on the added expense of continued coverage under my plan. What's called COBRA (that alphabet-soup name for continued health coverage comes from Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) costs close to $400 per month. One kid on COBRA doesn't completely break the bank, but there's another complication at my house. This one was unexpected. My 21-year-old son came home from Central Washington University at Christmas and didn't go back. I hope he will. He's working at a Seattle grocery store, but without employee health benefits. He is also an astonishing guitar player; people who aren't even his mom say so. His band has tour dates booked in Europe this summer. It's an exciting time for him, but he hasn't figured out his future. Health insurance isn't high on his list, but he'll help pay for it -- yep, about $400 a month for COBRA. With him, my worry is a ticking clock. There's an 18-month limit on his COBRA coverage. Individual coverage is prohibitively expensive. He'll need to either go back to school or find a job with real benefits. Skip health coverage? No way. That's Russian roulette. Compared with those who have serious illnesses and no coverage, my temporary budget crunch is no crisis. It is an eye-opener, though. Although I pay for family coverage, in the coming months I'll spend hundreds of dollars extra for my older kids' safety net. There's nothing like writing COBRA checks to heighten your interest in the health care debate. Next month, representatives of the advocacy group Health Care for All -- Washington will be in Everett to lead a public forum. The meeting is at 1 p.m. March 8 at the Everett Labor Temple. Health Care for All has started a new Snohomish County chapter, said Larry Kalb of Bellingham, who's active in the group. Health Care for All -- Washington is working in Olympia to support two bills, Senate Bill 5756 and House Bill 1886, called the Washington Health Security Trust. There's a similar plan in Congress, Kalb said. The aim is comprehensive, affordable and secure health coverage for all state residents through a unified payment system. "Everybody is worthy of care," said Kalb, 53, who works for the Whatcom Transportation Authority's finance department. "Excluding someone, it shouldn't be that way. You should have continuous coverage, no matter what your family situation," he said. Kalb lived 10 years in France, where he said a health care tax covered everyone and "was very manageable." He's tired of all talk and no progress on health care in this country. "We keep talking and talking, but it's gotten much worse," Kalb said. I don't know enough about the Health Care for All plan to support or oppose it. I do have an idea, born of my recent, pricey experience. And it wouldn't cost taxpayers one penny. All those insurance companies offering what they call family coverage ought to recognize a family as two adults plus kids -- that's what my family was before my husband died. I pay no less for family coverage now than a two-parent family with children under The Herald's health plan. If a single mom or dad paying for full family coverage chooses to insure an adult child -- let's say until age 30 -- why not? That simple option has the potential to cover thousands of young Americans now uninsured. I'd go so far as to allow a single person paying for family coverage to insure an elderly parent. It's not a freebie. It's only fair. Oh, and if it could start before my daughter's birthday, I'd really celebrate. Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com. Health care forum A new Snohomish County chapter of Health Care for All-Washington will hold a public forum on health care reform at 1 p.m. March 8 at the Everett Labor Temple, 2812 Lombard Ave. Health Care for All is an advocacy group seeking comprehensive coverage for all Washington residents. Information: http://www.healthcareforallwa.org.

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