No, I don’t “got insurance”: ObamaCare makes coverage unaffordable for dream-chasing entrepreneurs.
In a Midtown specialist’s office, I confessed the secret that’s been weighing on my mind.
“My health insurance expires at the end of May,” I told the doctor.
I had a lot of questions for him: How much does an uninsured visit cost? What is the fewest number of follow-ups we can do this year? Do you have payment plans available to patients paying cash?
I’ve been down the uninsured path before, having spent my post-college years waiting tables and freelance writing. I know the risks involved, but I also know what information I need to make sure I’m relatively safe and mostly healthy.
My doctor looked confused. “Well, you’re required to have it now, right? So you’ll be covered?”
If only it were that simple.
ObamaCare has hit people like me the hardest. I left a desk job at The Post to dedicate my time to teaching yoga and developing a career in health and wellness (the irony of sacrificing my health insurance for this is not lost on me).
I’m teaching on a freelance basis. My husband is also a full-time freelancer, or a “perma-lance,” if you will. Our household income puts us just barely in the lower-middle-class bracket.
And we will end up paying top dollar to have any type of insurance.
So we’ve decided we’re just going to pay the Affordable Care Act’s individual-mandate penalty: 2 percent of household income or $325 per person, whichever is more (of course).
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