I have insurance today (thanks to my wonderful employer, oh how I adore you), but for three years my family went without. I was laid off, and we did the math: it was far cheaper to pay out-of-pocket for our two boys' well-baby visits to the pediatrician and the occasional prescription than to pay the $400 monthly it would have cost for insurance for our young, healthy, non-smoking family.

And we're not the only ones. Every year, millions more families are going without health insurance. The reason? Health insurance rates are growing at a startling pace double that of inflation. It's not just the unemployed, or workers whose employers don't provide benefits, who are feeling the burn; as employers' rates rise, the contribution paid by the employee inches up, as well -- and the average annual raise won't cover it.

Every year, then, take-home pay goes down for me, for millions like me; for the rank and file at the 61% (in fact) of employers who offer health benefits.

Even so, the DJIA is nearing all-time highs, the market seems to be buoyed by an unknown giddiness. What's going on? Is the fat-and-happiness of the health insurance industry spilling over into consumer confidence? Is it just that we're really happy this is an election year? That doesn't satisfy me, and our Canadian friends can only look on in mystified horror as they watch our paychecks get frittered away into the insurance company's pockets.

As I see it, we have a couple of options: (a) buy insurance stocks and hope that some of the profit will end up in my retirement account instead of in the companies' executive pockets; (b) elect officials who'll effect some real change and democratize healthcare; or (c) move to Canada. Which will it be for you?

Too broke for health care: why you can't afford insurance originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Sep 2006 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.