I’ve written about this phenomena before and it never ceases to amaze me. Today, the New York Times published a story highlighting how health benefits are increasingly paving the way to the altar for many couples.
How common is this? Impossible to measure, but the article notes:
In a poll conducted this spring by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy research group, 7 percent of adults said someone in their household had married in the past year to gain access to insurance. The foundation cautions that the number should not be taken literally, but rather as an intriguing indicator that some Americans “are making major life decisions on the basis of health care concerns.”
I wonder when and how insurance companies will try to mitigate this. You know they can’t — understandably — be happy about it, but can the do anything about it? Should they? Many will tread lightly, I suspect, in light of recent heavy sanctions — $13 million in fines, actually — levied against some insurers who nefariously dropped coverage on members after they become ill. Who’s more desperate to protect themselves — the uninsured or the insurance providers?
One Comment
Interesting issue. How many of these couple would have been living together anyway – things have changed a lot over the decades. In fact, looking at the reverse, how many couples do NOT legally marry due to the possibility of LOSING survivor benefits etc.
Now, to open another can of worms – this is one of the reasons for the ‘gay marriage’ issue. If they are a ‘couple’ then why not allow the legal status?