One of the things that worries me every so often is health. It's something that isn't promised and can easily change for the worse. I only look at Dom who I remember when we first dated back in 2014 had so much energy. He used to walk so fast and over the last few years his energy has dipped and he now needs a cane to walk and was diagnosed with degenerative bone loss.
I think of my parents who both were taking blood pressure meds for many years. My Dad had many health scares over the years including prostate cancer and diverticulitis. My Mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease which affected her mental state and sadly an aggressive form of cancer took my Mom's life.
The cost of health care is a nightmare in the U.S. and is one part of the equation that you truly can't prepare for. You can save all the money in the world but if your health goes south, it can easily wipe you out financially.
It's such a racket. Health insurance is a necessary evil but it amazes me how much the hospital charges the insurance companies. A bill of $10000 may be reduced to $2000 due to insurance reduction. But the various charges the hospital charges are outrageous. $3000 for a couple hours in a room, hundreds of dollars in nickel and diming items like bacterial soap and different meds given. And whatever they can't get from insurance, they try to get from us the consumers.
But if you don't have insurance it's even worse. When I had my bout of kidney stones, I didn't have any insurance at the time because I was working part-time at Amazon while skilling up for a job upgrade and struggling to find a higher paying job. I couldn't get on Dom's insurance because we weren't married at the time and while there is an option for domesticated partners, Dom was not out at work.
When I was at the ER I had to explain (while I was in pain mind you) that I did not have any insurance. I remember being told I made "too much" at my minimum wage job to qualify for any assistance. I was too rich but not poor enough in the government's eyes.
It took two to three months before I got billed which wound up being close to $5000 which was reduced from $8000 (I guess cause I didn't have insurance). This was all for 6 hours at the ER.
I was blessed by that time with a new better paying job so I wound up putting myself on a payment plan paying around $400 a month until I paid off the big bill. And that didn't count the separate nickel and diming bills I got from the specialists directly which were between $50 - $200.
In contrast it was illuminating hearing about a nomad couple's experience in Malaysia. In their video they mentioned how the wife had to have major surgery. Mind you she went to the hospital because she was experiencing pain and was trying to get a diagnosis. To her surprise the doctor said she would need to have surgery right away. Everything happened within the same day.
She was in the hospital for a few days and they were bracing themselves for the bill. But to their surprise it wound up being some low amount (I believe it was several hundred dollars) and they wound up paying it out of pocket because they had a high deductible that wasn't met.
It seemed like the quality of healthcare was much better in Malaysia for a fraction of the cost. They mentioned there are insurance companies that provide coverage for nomad travelers, which are folks that move from place to place without a permanent house. The one they talked about is called Safety Wing, which specializes in providing insurance for those without a permanent home.
The couple featured in the video are nice folks who were able to early retire and apparently lived on cruise ships temporarily and now travel and live in various locations. They were in the Middle East during the beginning of the war Orange caused and spoke about managing to get away from there. There were many folks who couldn't get out because the airports were limiting flights because of the fighting.
But healthcare has been a sore spot in the United States for decades. Former President Obama was the closest to try and fight it with the Affordable Care Act. Unfortunately even that fell short as premiums were outrageously high at times and it seemed the government was penalizing folks if they didn't have insurance even if the cost to get it was so high. I remember trying to look into it but giving up.
I really don't know what to do about healthcare. I can't see Dom and I being nomads either. First of all he has too many dolls that he would need to sell or give away. Plus there is something to having a steady place that you can call home. There's another Youtube nomad couple with a channel called Stepsof2Foreigners about two hot gay guys who fell in love with each other. Their channel has been around since 2017 and follows their multi-year journey from first meeting each other in Brazil (I believe Adam was on vacation in Brazil and met Bernardo and they basically decided to make a go of it). I watched their videos over the years and it was crazy the number of places they moved in and out of in that time. They spent the majority of their time in the U.S., got married, and Bernardo finally getting his U.S. citizenship but both deciding to now relocate back to Brazil. Given this current regime I can't say I blame them. That's one good thing about not having a home, you have no real ties to stay in a particular place. But I wonder what their healthcare situation is. I don't remember if they discussed it particularly but I know they've had a few health issues they had to deal with.
Plus it was dizzying all the constant moving. I will say that I love stability and the thought of having to move somewhere once every six months to a year (which they seemed to be doing for many years) is something that would stress me out. As I said there is something positive knowing that you have a place you can go to that is yours and is a refuge from the crazy world we live in.
I guess I should count my blessings that I have some kind of insurance, as broken as the healthcare industry is.
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