Would you get married just for the health insurance?
It turns out that 7 percent of Americans would, and that they might be making the right choice.
Freelancer Michelle Goodman has written for ABC News about her own adventures in obtaining health insurance, and the sad news for her and others is that as an independent contractor, the price of buying an individual policy comes to thousands of dollars per year. As a result, some couples are rushing to the altar so that the one with employee benefits can bring the other onto their policy.
Even sadder are the stories of those who get divorced, or choose not to get married, so that a child or a sick individual will be able to qualify for a low-cost health care policy available on a low-income basis.
Goodman’s story offers several resource links for those who decide not to let their health insurance status determine their love lives, though she acknowledges that the choices are few and usually quite expensive.
Read the stories of the dental-care elopement; the 21st-century married “friends with benefits,” as in health benefits; and the Medicare divorcee, on the ABC News website: Getting Married for Better Health Coverage and Other Tales from the Insurance Mess.