Health Insurance Spurs Americans to Marry, or Divorce

The New York Times recently featured an article about people who are so desperate for health insurance coverage that they would marry or divorce for it. For example, one woman featured in the article recently had a kidney transplant, and was thinking about marrying her significant other so that she could share in his health benefits. This marriage would be rushing the natural progression of their relationship a bit, but she is not sure that she can afford to wait until she is sure that he is Mr. Right.

Another woman, seriously ill with liver failure, was covered on her husband's health insurance plan, but it was inadequate to meet her health care needs. The couple had racked up over $50,000 in debt for her care, when they started thinking about getting divorced so that she would be eligible for government-subsidized coverage. They were ready to proceed with their divorce when a relative offered them financial assistance and rescued them from having to end their marriage in order to pay her medical bills.

These stories show that our current health care system is not working for many people. The decision on whether to marry or divorce someone should not depend on health insurance coverage...and yet, sometimes it does. Do you know someone who has been in this situation before? What would you do for health insurance coverage? Talk about it in the forum.