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A “deal” on health insurance comes with troubling strings

23 minutes

Bari Tessler is a little famous as a “financial therapist,” but even she gets rattled by the price of health care.


Her story is complicated. And very relatable.


Bari chose to use a Christian "health share" instead of regular insurance. It's cheaper, but it comes with strings: Things the group doesn’t cover, limits on their obligations to you… and a religious vision that not everybody is comfortable with. Including Bari.


She sees it, for now, as the least terrible of a bunch of terrible options — but she’s conflicted about it.


Also: What my family is doing for health insurance next year.


And: A taste from one of the most painfully-hilarious things to hit the Internet for a long time. Welcome to Our Modern Hospital, Where if You Want to Know a Price, You Can Go F*** Yourself, published by McSweeney’s.


There’s a longer excerpt, and an interview with the author, Alex Baia — that’s on our Patreon. Thanks to Alex for permission to record excerpts, and to ttsreader for dramatizing the text for us!


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