One of the benefits of my being laid off, we thought, would be COBRA, the lovely government program that allows you to continue to receive the same health insurance that you had while employed. Even better, as part of one of Obama’s stimulus bills, you can receive a 65% reduction in COBRA costs. ‘Awesome!’ I thought. ‘Where do I sign up?’

Then, the COBRA paperwork arrived… with a $909 per month price tag. $909 per month! That works out to approx $320 per month after the reduction (which, by the way, is only valid for 8 months). Um, thanks, but no thanks.

So, now we’re on the hunt for insurance for our trip. Both of us are really quite healthy (and we’re both the type to avoid doctors as much as possible anyway) and we’re prescription-free. Which means that we really just need coverage in case of broken bones or other emergency room adventures.

Since I’m really not thrilled about this development and having to hunt down some insurance, I’m hoping that someone out there who’s reading this right now will have a most brilliant suggestion for us. (Pretty please?) Obviously, we’ll be traveling, so the most important part is that we’re covered nation-wide (we’ll get to international coverage when we get closer to crossing the border).

Many many thanks in advance!!