health insurance
Recently I completed my internship for my major. I am working on
my
degree in secondary education so I had to work with older kids in a
somewhat
diverse atmosphere. I decided to work at the youth shelter
for
high school aged students. My internship was only for about two
weeks
but the amount of experiential learning I'm taking out of the job
is
invaluable. My job was to help out with some small responsibilities
around
the house, as well as engaging in one on one counseling of the
students.
One kid, Alex, was the one I spent most of my time working
with
and talking to. Alex was about to graduate from high school and
would
not be going on to college. Part of the job of the shelter is to
help
the kids to get on their feet before they walk out the door. They
can
stay for up to six months after they are done with school, but most
try
to leave right away. So I got to be a part of Alex's team that
was
getting him prepared for the real world. The task at hand while I
was
there was the issue of health
insurance and medical
insurance. Part
of getting him ready to buy medical
insurance was to help him
understand the different types and benefits
of different health
insurance
plans. Since none of the kids in the
shelter were insured by their parents,
the shelter provided
temporary medical insurance and temporary health
insurance plans for
the first three months of their independence from
the house. We sat
Alex down and discussed all of his options with the
temporary
insurance and possibly purchasing some short term health
insurance
and short term medical insurance until he could get a good job.
We
also talked to him about his decision about not going to college
and
the effects it could have on his insurance possibilities later. The
director
gave me a long fact sheet to show him about how emergencies
without
insurance accounts for half of the bankruptcies and creates a
huge
financial risk that is cheaply quelled. It was interesting to see
his
reactions to these issue because he seemed to have been well
conditioned
by the atmosphere of the house to accept our advice. I find myself
hoping
that when I teach I can have kids like Alex in my class.