How Uninsured Law Student, 25, Gets Treatment via Girlfriend & Pal's Mom
An e-mail by an anonymous self-described second-year law student at a first-tier New York law school tells the story of his life without medical coverage.
In it, under the headline “Uninsured,” a 25-year-old explains what he does to get at least some of the treatment he needs. Posted by the Daily Dish blog of Atlantic magazine, the e-mail describes how Uninsured urges his girlfriend, a fellow law student who has medical coverage through her mother, to lie to her doctor about an ear infection to get antibiotics that might be useful for his own persistent cough.
For his asthma, Uninsured relies on a pal’s mom who works as a pharmacist to “steal sample-sized daily inhalers for me,” he writes.
His law school offers health insurance, “but I can’t afford it, and it doesn’t cover nearly enough,” he writes. Given the dismal economy and his huge debt load from law school, “I can’t afford to pile any more on even if I could,” he says. “I haven’t had insurance since I left my job as a paralegal at a major firm to attend school.”
