Cover America Tour: Keeping a job just for the health insurance

Nearly a quarter of Americans are making major life decisions based solely on the ability to get or keep their health insurance, according a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Think about that for minute.

People are taking jobs they don’t want, staying in jobs they don’t like—even getting married—just for the insurance benefits. Eight weeks and 28 states into the Cover America Tour, we've met many of the people behind the statistic.

John, 23, from Pelham, AL wrote to Consumers Union with his health care story: His insurance company determined that an emergency helicopter airlift was from an out-of-network provider and left it up to him to pay the $9,000 bill. You can see John talk about his struggles paying down the debt, and his outrage that the emergency transportation wasn’t covered in our video (right).

But there's a lot more to John's story. He recently received a job offer with a hefty pay raise that he was ready to take—especially with that $9000 helicopter bill hanging over the family budget. But unlike his current job, the new one wouldn't include health insurance benefits. He checked out the insurance options he could get for his family, including his pregnant wife and their two-year-old daughter. None would include maternity coverage for the first year—if at all.

John had to pass on the new job simply because he couldn't find affordable health insurance that would cover the pregnancy. Maybe after the baby's born, he says. Then maybe he'll be able to pursue other job options. For now he'll stay where he is for the health insurance.

At the other end of the workforce spectrum, many older people are being forced to postpone long-planned retirements. Research by the Urban Institute says more and more older workers are delaying retirement so they can hang on to their insurance benefits and keep their out-of-pocket costs down a little while longer.

Dave in Asheboro, NC already retired once. But when his former employer of more than 40 years pulled the plug on retiree benefits, he and his wife found the cost of health insurance too much to bear. He started a new job at age 64 strictly for the benefits and plans to work until he's 69, when his wife, several years younger, will finally qualify for Medicare. "So much for the retirement plans we made," says Dave.

Benefits packages offered by employers were originally intended to make jobs more attractive, or prospective employees might leverage them when negotiating or accepting a job. Today, in many cases, it seems to be the opposite, with job-seekers chasing the health insurance with the side benefit of a salary. For now, John—just starting his career—and Dave—trying to start his retirement – will continue to let health insurance guide their career moves, dictating the jobs they take and the ones they don't.

—Meagen Bohne, campaign organizer

Visit Cover America Tour to see more videos of the people we're talking to across America and to share your own health care story, and read more from our survey of Americans who can't depend on their health insurance.

Comments

[Joanne]

I find it abominable that the U.S. health insurance industry can use MINOR pre-existing condtions (or any, for that matter) to preclude someone from obtaining health insurance coverage... or offer them coverage but only with much higher premiums. This is appalling! I have been denied coverage several times in my life for relatively MINOR conditions (I am actually quite healthy), and therefore I am stuck paying a FORTUNE ($548/month) for individual coverage (with Kaiser Permanente). This is just outrageous!