"I promise to love you eternally, and add you to my health plan at the earliest possible opportunity. I promise to stay faithful to you, and to minimize your out-of-pocket medical costs with my low-deductible health insurance."
Awwww! Cute, right? And so romantic! It's really not clear why the Times article on marrying for health coverage was in the U.S section and not Modern Love, but whatever. They seem to think it's weird that couples are rushing to the altar because one or the other has acute kidney failure. They seem to think it strange that 7 percent of adults say someone in their household married for health insurance in the past year. But folks: This is America! Where a diamond ring isn't half so precious as a Blue Cross PPO card. Where health coverage can decide where we work and who we love and even whom we don't. Indeed, as goes marriage, so too goes divorce. Just as many couples commit in order to extend health insurance to each other, many refrain from separating in order to avoid depriving a once-loved one of protection. For instance, how sweet is this story: "When a mammogram confirmed in April 2007 that Sherri Parish had a lump in her breast, she panicked not only because of the devastating health news, but also because she was two weeks from a court date to finalize her divorce...A nurse and mother of three, Ms. Parish, 47, had had little contact with her husband since they separated a year earlier. Through lawyers, she asked Mr. Parish, 49, if he would consider a delay so she could pursue treatment. He agreed." It's like the Parent Trap, only with breast cancer rather than adorable twins! Julia Eisman, author of the above vows, has much more.
