We waved goodbye to Dave and Betty and climbed back into the RV, our arms full of goodie bags packed with fruit, snacks and Betty’s sour cream chocolate bundt cake for the road. They had raised three boys (now grown) and Betty, like many southern moms, had never felt right sending them out the door without some of her home cooking for the road. Now she insisted we do the same – and who were we to argue.

It looked like a nice life they had carved out here in Asheboro, NC. A cozy home on a quiet street with lots of greenery, Champ the dog and Jaybo the goat roam the back yard together; the grandkids had been here this morning. The perfect set up for a couple of retirees – if only retirement were an option.

After 42 years with the same company Dave’s position was eliminated, forcing him into what he thought would be an early retirement. Not long after, the company decided to stop subsidizing retiree health benefits, and the $1000 a month premium suddenly became their burden.

If they both were about to turn 65 and qualify for Medicare, that would have been okay for a short time. Or if they’d found a reasonably-priced individual plan, that would have worked too. But the cheapest plan they could have bought on their own would have been $3000 a month, and, while Dave is 64 now, Betty is still four years away from Medicare.

So Dave went back to work full-time for the healthcare benefits. He got a good job with the county, and now every day, 8 to 5, Dave works so he and Betty have an affordable health care plan.

He’ll keep working until they both qualify for Medicare, and by then he’ll be 69. It’s certainly not the future they envisioned. Says Dave, “So much for the retirement plans that we had made!"

By the time we left it was after 7:00. We drove off through the rolling Carolina foothills, dotted with tiny churches and a perfect sunset – and we were frustrated. Dave and Betty had struck a nerve. They were our dads and moms – people who worked hard for decades for their families and deserved a break when they were ready to take one, not being forced back into the workplace until almost the age of 70 by the high costs of health care.

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comments (1)

Comments

1 Posted by Tom Allen at 07/04/08 07:30 PM

I surely agree with Dave's sentiments regarding the state of our health insurance coverage vs. cost in this country. I've worked for the state for 39 years and am retired from teaching but still working half-time for the state. Fortunately for me, my health insurance is covered by the state for the rest of my days (unless they decide to change the way it's set up). But even in my fortunate situation, every year the deductible goes up while the coverage decreases. I really feel for hard working folks like Dave who worked their full career expecting to be able to retire comfortably, just to have the rules of the game changed late in the 4th quarter. We all need to push for a fairer system of health coverage that doesn't make families have to choose between health coverage and food on the family table.

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