How I Finally Got Health Insurance Again

By Crystal Lindell

In 2022, I was unceremoniously laid off from my job of 12 years. During the exit meeting, I was told that it would all be okay because I could sign up for COBRA!

That way, despite losing my job, I’d at least have health insurance until I could find something else.

Then, I saw the price of COBRA. It was about $500 a month. 

That’s a lot of money when you have a job, but it’s an obscene amount of money when you’ve just been laid off. 

People with a lot more wealth than me were flabbergasted that I turned it down. Extended relatives and former co-workers could not grasp why I decided to instead try the alternative health insurance plan, known as “Hope for the best.”

But looking back, “Hope for the best” has served me relatively well for almost four years now. 

I paid out-of-pocket for my routine doctor appointments, and cash for all of my monthly prescriptions. But I had to skip all my recommended preventative care, like getting mammograms. 

I also prayed every night that I wouldn’t have a medical emergency.

About 27 million Americans do that too, because they can’t afford private health insurance or the higher premiums of Affordable Car Act plans. They’ll soon be joined by over 5 million adults and children due to tougher Medicaid work rules

Yes, I still have medical debt to worry about. But I finally have real-life health insurance again! 

Oddly, it’s all thanks to the war with Iran. Let me explain.

For the last year, I had been earning a few hundred dollars a week delivering meals for DoorDash. But after we went to war, gas prices went from $2.79/gallon to $4.29/gallon in northern Illinois almost overnight. 

Suddenly, the math for most deliveries just didn’t make sense anymore. There were some orders where I was literally paying to bring someone McDonald’s.

When I factored in the wear and tear on my car, it became obvious that even a part-time minimum wage job would make more sense financially.

So, I applied at a Michael’s Craft Store because I thought it sounded fun, and then I applied at a gas station 12 minutes from my house because I thought it sounded convenient. The next day, the gas station called me back.

While I was initially hired as part-time, as of June 1, I am officially full-time.

And full-time employees get health insurance!

I signed up online right away and immediately scrolled to the cheapest plan, which was $68/week. But then I was given a $15/week discount for not being a tobacco user. (Thanks D.A.R.E.!) I also added on a $3.83/week dental plan, bringing my total health insurance cost to about $227/month.

That’s less than half the cost of the COBRA I was offered, plus now I have a weekly income to help cover it.

After years of paying out-of-pocket for all my medical care, my new plan includes some exciting features – like $10 co-pay for two medications I need every month; free preventative care like those mammograms I missed; and $20-co-pays for my doctor, who is thankfully in-network.

I’m going to call and make multiple appointments that I have been putting off, and then when they ask me how I’ll be paying for the visit, I will proudly tell them that I will be using my very own Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance!

You might be wondering how I’m able to physically do a gas station cashier job with my chronic pain, and the answer to that question is 7-OH, a potent form of kratom. I started taking it a few months ago, and it has greatly improved my daily quality of life.

Yes, 7-OH is expensive, and yes, it does cause withdrawal symptoms if you stop abruptly, so it’s not perfect. But for me, it’s been life-changing in all the best ways. It relieves pain while also giving me energy, making me more functional than I have been in years. 

I am not exaggerating when I say that 7-OH is the reason that I am now able to work a job full-time. And by extension it’s the reason that I am able to have health insurance now.

So tonight, when I go to sleep, I’ll be praying to a God I don’t really believe in that 7-OH remains legal. For now, anyway.

But hey, at least I no longer have to worry about what happens if I break a bone or have a heart attack. Because I finally, after four long years, really do have health insurance again!