The "Early Christmas Present" Story

It was an ordinary day. Checking the new monthly premium for health insurance that Carol had just received in the mail. When I turned 65 and went on Medicare, my wife lost her health insurance. We had investigated different plans for months trying to find one that would cover her until she reached Medicare age. Called a former student who sold insurance and he researched policies to see which one would be best for her. Came up with a few and we applied for insurance to see which one would have the best prices. After filling out the forms we waited. All three came back with the notice: "Uninsurable." That can't be. Oh, it be! Seems if you have anything wrong with you, even if you have it under control and have had no problems for years and years, the insurance companies don't want to have anything to do with you. "Pre-existing condition" is stamped on your application. Not that the price is exorbitant, it just isn't offered at any price. Now what do we do? I had decided to take a supplemental plan with my teachers association to cover what Medicare would not pay. I could insure Carol through them, even with a pre-existing condition, but at a hefty price. Carol would need 37 months of insurance before she would be in the Medicare system. The cost through the teachers association would be a sizable, but at least we would have medical coverage. Then I remembered that she was eligible for the school district's plan that we both were on for years. Called "Cobra" and state law allows you to continue on it, in her case, for 36 months after I leave the plan. She would continue the same plan with the same benefits and coverage at the same price we were paying. Slightly better than the teacher's association price, so we decided on continuing her coverage as it was. The price we had to pay for a year would buy me a really nice used car, but we needed the coverage. Well, when the letter arrived from the "Cobra" insurance company, we were expecting a big increase. We opened it together and looked at it together and then looked at each other. Holy cow!! The smile on our faces grew as we looked again at it. It dropped in price! I had to call to make sure that was correct. It was. 12 more months of a few dollars less is definitely better that 12 more months with a larger fee. Made a great Christmas present for the both of us. It was an extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.