You actually wrote: “People in China are fucking primitive.”

Wow go fuck yourself.

I had to resign from my job last year due to relocation. COBRA for myself and my husband would have been $1400/month. As such, he went without, and I was able to afford COBRA coverage for all of one month as I was looking for a new job. From March until September, I was only working part time at a job that only…

“Could we have some more butter please?”

$1,447.72 per month for two. And the fun part is that drawing down your 401K to “afford” that means your “income” goes up, you pay taxes and no longer qualify for “low income” programs.

Yep, that’s about where I was a couple of summers ago when I had a gap between jobs—also as a single person. It also turned into a massive headache because, despite paying for the COBRA, the insurer kept rejecting claims as though I were no longer insured. I was lucky to have a health provider who was rational and…

The one time I got laid off the COBRA quote was so ridiculous I remember actually laughing out loud.

I don’t want to commit suicide, and I don’t want to wish harm on others, but I do wish they...how do I say this...didn’t exist.

I’ve certainly never been able to afford COBRA when leaving a job. Even when I had a good savings cushion, I needed that money for the transition and emergencies. I couldn’t afford to tap into it for the ridiculous amount of money COBRA was asking.

I almost make six figures and don’t have a couple grand laying around either. Rent and student loans take over the majority of my take home pay. 

What is hard to understand? No my cost of living isn’t high.  I am a single homeowner in the midwest.  MRIs are expensive. Affording healthcare out of pocket (insurance won’t pay for it, so for this I am effectively “uninsured”) is hard even for me and I am in a good situation overall.

There are parts of America where $61,000 - $87,000 sounds like a lot of money. But being able to afford a place to live in NYC on that salary is ridiculous.

$61k-$87K gross? If gross then she’s taking home about 1/3 less a year, right. So she’s taking home $40k-$59k a year and its pretty goddamn likely she’s paying upwards of $3000/month rent if in NY. So $36,000 on rent & util, she’s got $4000-$24000 for groceries, transportation, family expenses, and all those ancillary…

What has this dude been smoking and is it legal where I live?  I couldn’t afford COBRA when I got laid off and thank fucking GOD for the ACA because it meant I didn’t have to panic when I broke my hand or have to choose between going to the gynecologist about a worrisome symptom or eating anything more substantial…

Yeah, someone who is just “get COBRA and suck it up” has never been in the situation where they’re between jobs and need the job to eat. COBRA is one of those things designed by a clueless congress with full input from the insurers that seems to be a great idea on the surface until you do the math.

I make well into 6 figures, have no kids and have the “good” insurance at work and I’m sitting here figuring out how to pay for my MRI out of pocket because I need foot surgery and insurance won’t approve a fucking diagnostic test. Even someone as fortunate as I am to have money and benefits doesn’t have a few grand…

My son works 50+ hours a week in a salaried position. His employer does not offer health insurance coverage because it’s cheaper for them to just pay the penalties.

my takeaway was definitely different.

This is very different than Ebola due to the current R0 rate and mortality rate. The R0 for the new coronavirus has an R0 of 2-4.  That means it is far more contagious than Ebola which is why we are seeing so many more cases. However, Ebola is far deadlier with a mortality rate of around 50%. The common influenza we…