Being a student right now with so much to gain yet so much to sacrifice is very hard right now. Stress plays a big factor when trying to find the right lifestyle balance for me. As a grown adult I am a full-time student yet on the other hand am dependent upon myself to pay my tuitions off and other bills that I have to pay outside of school. Due to my tedious schedule, I only work a certain number of hours and believe I don’t get paid much for what these expenses account for. That stress comes to play when I have all these bills mounted up on me when I haven’t even gotten the chance at parenthood or life outside of academics. At the moment I have another new bill coming at me because now I have to pay for health insurance instead of being under my parents, and as you know now, everything is inflated and has been for a while. I shouldn’t have to be subjected to pay 250-350 dollars a month on my own for an insurance provider that I will only use probably once or maybe twice a year. To me that amount is ridiculous, and we still haven’t even talked about deductibles etc. When you look at other big countries, health care is usually free for everyone because it’s something that is a vital and essential part of your individual well-being, so I don’t get why those same rules can’t apply here. Now that I’m writing this, I’m left wondering how people with disabilities carry the burden of these medical expenses considering the fact that those bills are probably higher than what I even have right now. The best course of action that I can take right now when it comes to health insurance is capped off as well. When I mentioned capped off, I refer it towards my company health care plan, but even so requires a set number of hours that you have to complete in order to even be eligible to apply for such benefits, for which I don’t qualify for at the moment. Right now, I’m only left with private providers that charge me a boat load of money just to be considered at having a health plan, to just say I have a health plan. As it comes to looking towards the future, I’m going to have to ride out whatever plan I can get best for at least a year before I can come back and apply for my company benefits after graduation when I pick up more hours, God willing. With all of this going on, I’m not even a parent so I know the burden must feel even bigger as a parent when even more expenses come into play once other people are dependent upon you. To say the least, its nothing short of amazing how not just regular parents deal with expenses surrounding their children but parents who have to navigate these expenses and other factors of life when they may have children or other siblings with disabilities or abnormalities. As for me, I will keep my head up and see where this whole life thing takes me a year from now or whatever, but its certainly straining and stressful ill tell you that much.
Unruly Bodies 
Hey DrizzyyyDrew!
Just finished reading your latest post, “The Constant Pressures of Health Care,” and let me tell you, it hit closer to home than a GPS-tracked drone delivery. The way you’ve juggled being a student, a part-time worker, and the unofficial CFO of Your Life Inc. is nothing short of a Cirque du Soleil act. Wait until you are 36.
Your take on health insurance costs was as spot-on as a cat landing on its feet – which, by the way, is probably covered under their nine-lives insurance policy. I mean, $250-350 a month for health insurance you’ll use once or twice a year? That’s like buying a year’s supply of Halloween candy but only going trick-or-treating once. And let’s not get started on deductibles – they’re like plot twists in a bad movie, you never see them coming and they usually don’t make much sense.
You pointed out how other countries treat healthcare like a communal potluck – everyone brings something to the table, and everyone gets to eat. Meanwhile, we’re over here playing a solo game of Monopoly where the only prize is a slightly less astronomical medical bill.
Your musings on how this system impacts parents and individuals with disabilities were particularly thought-provoking. It’s like they’re playing life on hard mode, while the rest of us are struggling to keep up on medium.
As for your current predicament, riding out the storm with whatever plan you can snag sounds like you’re in a tiny boat trying to navigate the health insurance Bermuda Triangle. Here’s to hoping that post-graduation you can upgrade to a slightly bigger boat, maybe even with a health plan that doesn’t resemble a pirate’s treasure map (X marks the spot where all your money disappears).
Keep that head up, DrizzyyyDrew. In a year’s time, who knows? You might just be the one writing a blog post titled “How I Beat the Healthcare System (And Lived to Tell the Tale).” Until then, remember – life’s a rollercoaster, and right now, you’re just stuck on the healthcare loop-the-loop.
Stay strong and may your coffee be stronger,
Nicole