Today, Denise and I are meeting with a wonderful client of ours, Joe and Pat Pane from Medical Insurance Assistance (MIA). What’s different about today is Denise and I will be the client instead of Joe and Pat. That’s great, as we love doing business with clients when the fit is right.

 

I will confess I am somewhat skeptical. Not of MIA’s services, but in holding out any hope that anyone in this world can actually help us with our healthcare dilemma. You see, I am diabetic (need i say more?), And while Denise and our two girls are healthy and insurable, I am not insurable because of diabetes.

 

When we started this business, Denise worked for Bank of America. The health benefits were excellent. But after many months, we decided Denise’s skills would be better utilized (much better) working in the business (as well as on the business). Therefore, we opted for her Cobra. This Cobra thing essentially says, we are guaranteed insurance for 18 months as long as we pay the full cost +1%. No problem; expensive (~$1,100 /mo), but doable.

 

In preparation for our insurance expiring (our 18 months is up in July), we have met with several insurance agents and the message is always the same. Insurance for Denise and the girls; no problem. Jim, you’re on your own. I suppose I’ll be getting a 2nd job at Starbucks. Not sure when I will work there since I already work 12-16 hours a day, including most weekends as of late. However, I do love Starbucks coffee and they do offer part-time employees health benefits.

 

BTW: I’m not complaining about the long hours I work. I really do love being a business owner and I love the services we provide. It’s actually very fun!

 

What can we do about the cost of healthcare? I am not one for the government resolving this issue. The thought makes me want to gag. But something has to be done. Any thoughts are welcome.

#ilm