http://hertwocents.com/2010/02/01/marry-for-benefits/ Straight talk about spending, saving, and other money matters. Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:24:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://hertwocents.com/2010/02/01/marry-for-benefits/#comment-28 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:48:34 +0000 http://hertwocents.com/?p=304#comment-28 [...] brings the concept of marrying for health insurance to our minds. I had heard of marrying for citizenship, marrying for money, and of course marrying [...]

]]> http://hertwocents.com/2010/02/01/marry-for-benefits/#comment-24 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:10:15 +0000 http://hertwocents.com/?p=304#comment-24 WellHeeled, thanks for your post! The lack of work experience and education are, of course, a factor, but she’s doing something part-time for an organization that helps the disabled, so she’s not without skills. And she was hospitalized for one week last year, which is awful, but that still seems manageable on the average job’s sick leave. Still, I get that it’s crazy tough to find a job with her background, especially in this economy. To your second point, sure, people marry for all kinds of things. But we tar and feather people who publicly marry for money or status, and marrying for citizenship is illegal. It’s not shocking, but it’s definitely a sad result of our broken health care system.

]]> http://hertwocents.com/2010/02/01/marry-for-benefits/#comment-23 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:24:11 +0000 http://hertwocents.com/?p=304#comment-23 Wow, this is so sad. I hope something works out for her. Two points come to mind:
1. Given the fact that she has a genetic disease that often puts her out of commission for weeks at a time and lack of work experience, I imagine it’d be difficult to find an employer who can accommodate that. So I don’t think we can assume that Terri isn’t doing everything she can to find a job. Maybe finding a husband with health insurance is the last-ditch effort.
2. I don’t know if we should be so shocked by this -marriage has traditionally been about sharing resources and legalizing benefits. If people can marry for fame, citizenship, money, status, etc., then why is it so bad that people are marrying for health insurance? Many people, whether they admit it or not, have criteria for selecting a spouse other than simply “love”, Terri is just making her criteria very clear from the get-go.

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