We recently happened to catch a re-run of a popular TV Show, and it got us thinking about health insurance (most things do!). In the episode, one of the main characters, Susan, had just found out she needed surgery. However, she didn’t have health insurance and couldn’t afford the procedure on her own – which, in all its comedic essence, absolutely terrified her. She was desperately searching for a solution to her problem, when one of her friends offered an interesting suggestion: get married to a man with a good health insurance plan. Even better, her friend already knew a guy who would consider it. So, Susan agreed to meet the mystery man (he ended up being gay, and simply wanting to hide his lifestyle from his mother). After a 5-minute discussion in a diner, both parties agreed to the marriage & set an appointment for the ceremony. And even though the wedding never actually happened (the groom’s boyfriend was too upset), the whole idea really made us wonder. Are there people out there who get married for health insurance??

With most employer-sponsored health insurance plans, your partner is eligible for your health insurance plan as soon as they become your “spouse.” For most people, this is simply a “perk” of the marriage, not the sole reason behind it. In marriages where both partners are employed & insured, they can either remain insured under their individual health insurance plans, or one partner may be added to the other’s plan, if it makes more sense financially. These are things we discuss with our clients on a regular basis – because we want them to find the most affordable health insurance options. But we have never – not even once – come across a situation where a couple is getting married solely for the health insurance. Now it’s certainly possible that they simply chose not to share that information with us, but we’re assuming that if it was a common practice we would have heard of it at least once.

So we did a bit of searching online, and came across an interesting story from ABC News, “I Married For Health Insurance.” My immediate thought was that this must be an old article – surely this doesn’t actually happen today… I was wrong – the story was just published in July of 2008! Apparently, in April 2008, the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a poll on health insurance. The study found that in the past year, seven percent of U.S. adults married for health insurance reasons. The story went on to feature the stories of various couples – one couple had never intended on getting married, one couple secretly got married in the court months before their planned wedding, and another couple has a relationship that is strictly platonic. But each unique couple had the same exact goal: affordable health insurance coverage for both partners.

And what surprised us even more is that some couples do the exact opposite for health care. They told the story of a couple who had been married for 11 years, but got divorced so that the husband (who had just been laid off) would be eligible for Medicaid, which he needed to help pay for his cancer treatments. And another couple refused to get married, although they had been together for 10 years, because their combined income would disqualify their daughter from the state’s health care coverage.

It’s such a shame that average American families must use marriage as a financial resource. Private health insurance costs have increased so dramatically over the years that even the average working American finds it extremely unaffordable. Something must be done to protect the financial stability of our nation. Yes, we know that Obama and his administration are “working on it,” just like every other President has been. But nobody – not seven percent or even one percent of Americans – should need to get married just for the health insurance. It makes a mockery of our nation and the ideals we strive for.

What do you think? Do you know anyone who has gotten married or divorced for health insurance reasons? Would you ever consider it yourself??