In Which Jim Whines

[jimhines]

Two weeks ago, I took time off of the day job so I could be with my wife during a surgical procedure and the first part of her recovery. Everything went smoothly, and I brought her home on day two.

For the next week and a half, I played stay-at-home Dad. I got up with the kids, fed them breakfast, and got them off to school. I took care of dishes,

Comments

[barbarienne]

Sometimes we need a good wallow. Not admitting to such feelings is harmful.

I have often speculated that if we had a national health system, how many people would immediately quit their jobs. I suspect that number may be as high as 10% of the working population.

[jimhines]

Realistically, I still don't know if I'd quit right away, but I'd almost certainly look at going part-time on the day job. Writing income is a bit unpredictable, and I'm much more conservative about this sort of risk due to the kids ... but if it was just me or just my wife and me, then I'd be out the door in a heartbeat.

[cathshaffer]

Hmmm...have you looked at child-only health insurance?

[jimhines]

I haven't. Um ... what is child-only insurance?

[cathshaffer]

Exactly what it sounds like. You purchase it through the same carriers that offer family policies, but it only covers your kids. A bonus of the child-only option is that pre-existing condition exclusions are disallowed, so your child is fully covered from the first day. I have link I'll send you in email where you can check out policies.

[jimhines]

Given that my wife and I have more health troubles than the kids, I don't know that this would help. We still need coverage for all four of us.

[cathshaffer]

It might be a workable stopgap or last resort. If you felt like you and Amy could go uninsured temporarily, at least the kids would be covered. It's not a great option, though, no.

[jimhines]

Taking Amy and I off of insurance would cost us several thousand a month to cover medications and such. That's without doctor visits or any complications.

[cathshaffer]

I'm not urging you to do so. I only mentioned it because of your comment above that if it was just you and amy, you'd be out the door in a heartbeat.

[jimhines]

Ah. I see the confusion. That comment was predicated on the previous one, which assumed a national health care system. If health care wasn't an issue, I'd be hesitant because of the kids and wanting to make sure they're supported. But if the kids weren't in the picture...

[cathshaffer]

Ah, ok. I got it. Yes, I thought that was odd since you and Amy obviously have rather expensive ongoing needs.

[ckd]

Honestly, I think that a national single-payer system would be one of the best things to happen to entrepreneurial capitalism in the US in decades.

Why? Because people would feel more able to quit to start their own business if they didn't have to worry about their kids' doctor visits.