What it is
“Health extortion” is my name for the U.S. system where health insurance is bound to your employer. Lose the job, lose the coverage. Want to leave a bad job, think about your kid’s medicine first. Then come deductibles, networks and surprise bills on top.
In 2020 I wrote that “health insurance” should be renamed “health extortion,” and I haven’t changed my mind.
How it shows up for me
I’ve timed surgeries around deductibles, the way you’d time a sale. Nobody should have to plan their family’s health around a fiscal calendar. I say this with humor because the alternative is rage.