Ken retired at age 62 in part because he was worried about the stability of Social Security and wanted to get his piece of the pie while there was still some left. But health insurance was another issue entirely. Three years away from Medicare, Ken had to find coverage for him and his wife. Like many of the folks we have met on the Cover America Tour, the options he found were simply unaffordable.

COBRA coverage from the school district he worked for would cost over $700 a month, about equal to his entire monthly pension check. “We're just not gonna go that route,” he told us. Individual polices were either unaffordable or too limited to be worth his while. One plan’s prescription drug coverage would actually charge him more in co-pays than he pays without insurance for some medications.

Ken’s not the only uninsured guy in town. When we pulled into our RV park and met the owner we we’re graced, as usual, with a health care story. Like Ken, the RV park owner had a similar take on health insurance. He can’t afford the premiums so he goes uninsured and hopes for the best.

Thermopolis is as interesting a place as its name implies. The ground in this sleepy corner of Wyoming boasts one of the world’s largest mineral hot springs and the locals regularly go for a dip in the many area baths. We were told about the healing powers of the local waters so we asked Ken if that’s his plan for staying healthy. With the same calm demeanor that he approaches his uninsured woes, he replied “maybe so.”

“I don’t worry about it too much, if something happens it happens,” he says. For extra money Ken continues to work part-time as an electrician, a job he’s done for most of his life. He recognizes that it can be dangerous; one fall off a ladder or a sloppy mistake with electricity would put him in the hospital and leave him with substantial bills, or worse. But he says worrying doesn’t do any good and that for now he’ll continue to roll the dice and hope a better option for insurance comes along.

Ken admits his health care gamble is a big one, but that it has thus far paid off. Sadly, Ken’s situation is all too typical of the awful choices now being faced by millions of Americans when it comes to health care. Should so many people have to literally gamble with their health and financial well being because insurance is unaffordable?

The healing waters of the mineral springs of Thermopolis may provide some temporary comfort to Ken and the other uninsured people we met in Thermopolis, but some decent and affordable health care coverage would be a lot more comforting in the long run.

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