My boss is the best boss in the whole world. She is getting us insurance. I got to look at the paperwork, we (as a company) qualify for the best tier Blue Cross offers. So I am happy and blessed that my employer will cover a large portion of the cost of the insurance, not just for me, but for my dependants as well. What I don't understand (and probably never will) is how the insurance company decides what to gouge us for - I mean charge for coverage. It costs twice as much to insure my daughter as it does to cover my boss' son, likewise our husbands cost about half as much to ensure as it costs to ensure us (women). And frankly, if the business wasn't paying for most of this coverage, I just couldn't do it. I feel lucky to be making the salary I am, and this insurance costs more than half of my monthly income. The premium is more than my mortgage. The premium for one month is more money than I have spent on medical care for my whole family in the past year.

And it doesn't cover dental. And it doesn't cover any pre-existing conditions for 15 months (Keith's asthma! A main reason we need insurance - the medicine he should be on costs something like $200 a month). And I don't know what else it doesn't cover... But I am happy about being able to take this opportunity to throw a bunch of money at an invisible company to provide a safety net (with holes I know are there but cannot see) for my family. I hope none of us ever get sick, and I hope that we never require enough medical treatment to justifiy the NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR the insurance company will get. I just can't get over how much it costs. I can't understand how people without fantastic employers like mine are expected to afford coverage... If I were king of the world I would just make money completely illegal. And we would all become communists. And we'd all eat soilent green.