Click the link below the picture
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A few days before New Year’s Eve, an unfamiliar health insurance card for me arrived in the mail. I assumed there must have been an error and called the human resources department of the medical center where I’m employed as a doctor.
“No,” the representative replied, “it’s not a mistake. You didn’t enroll this year, so you automatically got put on the basic plan.”
“That’s … that’s impossible,” I stammered. “I’ve always signed up my family for the same health plan.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Ofri,” the representative said, rechecking her records, “but you didn’t enroll this year.”
Could that be? Could I have somehow forgotten? Or missed the notification? “But don’t worry,” she said. “We’ve put you on the basic plan.”
“OK,” I said, starting to relax and thinking out loud. “I guess my kids will get to meet some new doctors.”
But the representative did not match my tone. “I’m sorry, but the basic plan is just for the employee,” she said, “not your family.”
That’s when a coil of disbelief clamped my heart to a standstill. My spouse and children would be left without health insurance? The panicked questions quickly percolated: What about their ongoing medical treatments? What about their medications? What if someone got hit by a car, or got cancer? There’s hardly a more devastating feeling for a parent than to realize that you haven’t adequately provided for your family.
Swirling in panic, I hardly heard anything else the representative said. There was something about referring my case to a supervisor, but it was a holiday week, so many employees were on vacation. All I could think about was that in a few days, it would be the new year, and my family would be uncovered. I felt tears creep into the corners of my eyes as I realized that I had jeopardized my family’s health. All, it seemed, from missing the email notifications.
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Haik Avanian
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Click the link below for the article:
https://www.nytimes.com
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James' World 2 
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