Health care too expensive? Fly to Singapore!

As I've mentioned before, I used to teach college. Although I still gripe from time to time about the downsides of teaching -- the poor pay, the administration, the poor pay, the push for political correctness, the poor pay -- I have to admit that there were a few bright aspects. I loved working with students, I enjoyed having a big office, and I really, really appreciated the health care.

Working for a state-supported university in Virginia, my health care was very cheap. In return for a premium of less than $100 a month, my wife, daughter, and I all received medical and dental benefits that, in retrospect, were pretty outstanding. To give you an idea, my daughter's birth cost my wife and I less than $300; taking into account all the prenatal visits and whatnot, I think it still came out to under $500.

Recently, I've been having some dental work done. Now that I am no longer employed by the state, I have come to realize just how great my deal was. As a further lesson, my sister has been in and out of the hospital for the past few months with a chronic liver problem that she has had since she was a baby. As an artist, she makes very little money, but, luckily, Pennsylvania's Medicaid is outstanding, as are the programs at the Geisinger Clinic, the hospital that is treating her. Otherwise, she would probably be in debt for the rest of her life.