My mother spent the month of April 1943 on
bedrest, hoping to prevent my birth from occurring before their insurance
kicked in on May 1. It turns out, I
waited until May 31 to make my appearance.
During college, both John and I had
medical coverage through the University of Colorado. The Wardenburg medical center was on campus
and included not only urgent care but also regular doctor’s appointments and a
small hospital. Shortly after we
married, I went to work for CU in the News Service and received medical
insurance for both of us. By the time I
quit, John was a policeman for the City of Boulder and his insurance took over
for both of us. We may have had to pay
extra for maternity coverage. I don’t
really remember.
When we purchased the funeral home
in 1976, we quickly arranged health insurance for us and our one employee. Through the years, our medical insurance covered foot surgery, treatments for Eric's asthma attack and both boys allergy shots, childbirth and miscarriages.We had continuous medical insurance from then
on until John retired from active ministry in 2003 at the age of 60. When our son Eric was in college, he
developed appendicitis and had to have surgery.
That expense was covered. At
about the same time another family member’s son needed the same surgery. They didn’t have health insurance and it cost
a whole lot.
When John retired from active
ministry in 2003 at the age of 60, we had to pay for our own health insurance
until we turned 65. It was costing us
$11,000 a year to insure two people over the age of 60. Making those payments was a real stretch but we didn't want to worry about some major illness or accident wiping us out. We knew it was worth it when my mother was
hospitalized with pneumonia and ended up in intensive care. Her ICU bill was $81,000. Thank heaven she had insurance.
We have had car repairs, RV repairs after hail in Texas and a tire blowout in New Mexico.
When we returned from an RV trip we
found our basement flooded. The hose
feeding one of the toilets started leaking and we had over 3 feet of standing
water. The final bill after the water
was gone, the sheetrock replaced and all the mold cleaned up, damaged hardwood flooring replaced, plus drying out
books, photos, negatives and lots of other items, our insurance paid
$50,000. Without insurance, I am sure we
would have paid only for repairs to the house and given up on all the personal
property.
We make sure our house, our truck
and our RV are insured. So is the rental
property we own in Colorado. In October
2018 we stood under our carport in Arizona and watched hail assault our
Airstream, our truck and our house. Insurance has paid $3,200 for repairs to the house, $3200 on the truck and
$24,000 to repair the Airstream.
Do we believe in insurance? You better believe it!
