Leveling the field

Today's chapter from Wilson-Hartgrove got me thinking about health insurance again.  I may seem a little obsessed with it, but when I calculate that my prescriptions cost nearly as much as all my other living expenses put together, it's absolutely terrifying.  I've had a lot of conversations with my parents about money, debt, and my personal responsibility for my finances after I graduate.  For some reason I have it in my head that since I received the education and my parents paid for housing and tuition, I should have to pay off the $16,000 in loans I 'm getting out with.  My parents, on the other hand, want to be able to help me out with my loans as much as possible so I don't get weighed down by them.  Another time, I was lamenting the fact that I was (and still am) such a financial drain on them when it comes to prescriptions.  In her infinite wisdom, my mom replied, "it's not your fault."

I think the way this ties in with the co-op Wilson-Hartgrove discusses is pretty cool.  If someone gets weighed down by medical bills or other debts, most of society considers it "their fault" for not having insurance or making unwise financial decisions.  But disease is usually not anyone's fault, especially things like type one diabetes which mostly occurs in children.  I didn't do something wrong when I was ten years old; it was nothing I did that cursed me with an expensive, lifelong health condition.  What I like about the idea of that co-op is that it doesn't give the healthy an advantage over the sick.  It's all equal.