BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

Well, I suppose there have always been lots of reasons for people to marry.  Back in the old days it was a matter of love or legal procreating.  Of course, marriage has been romanticised for years, even back to the days of Jane Austen and before.  Lurking in the background was always the idea of solidifying one’s future.  Even today we all know some people who may have married for love or lust, but remain in the circumstance for financial security.  In the 1940’s and 1950’s I suspect that many women stayed in not so fulfilling marriages because they had no place to go and no means of support for their children.

But, with all the reasons people have married in the past, today there seems to be a new reason emerging…. healthcare.

In a poll released today, 7% of Americans said they or someone in their household decided to marry in the last year so they could get healthcare benefits via their spouse.

“It’s a small number but a powerful result, because it shows how paying for healthcare is reflected not only in family budgets but in life decisions,” said Drew E. Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which commissioned the survey as part of its regular polling on healthcare.

On a broader scale, the survey found that healthcare costs outranked housing costs, rising food prices and credit card bills as a source of concern. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said they had experienced serious problems because of the cost of healthcare, compared with 29% who had problems getting a good job or a raise. Gasoline prices were the top economic worry, with 44% saying they had serious problems keeping up with increases at the pump.

So, it seems that aside from the usual nuptial reasons such love, lust, family name, financial security, a trophy spouse we have now become more practical than romantic.  Instead of asking to see the size of the diamond, a financial or credit report, we perhaps are now asking to see healthcare benefits.