What I need from Obama

I wasn't going to blog about the election. Mostly because I don't really have anything especially articulate to say about what happened on Tuesday that hasn't already been said, not only about Obama's win, but about the passage of Proposition 8 in California. I talked with my parents election night, and they said they could have never imagined a Black man as President in their lifetimes. Even I found it hard to imagine, even with Hollywood's suggestions. And, of course, the passage of Proposition 8 is a sad counterpoint to the amazingness of Obama's election. But what I'm writing about is that I need something from President Barack Obama. And I need it right now. I moved from a state that guarantees reasonably priced health insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions to a state that makes it impossible to get reasonably-priced insurance with pre-existing conditions. In California, as someone who is self-employed, It seems I can't join a group to get reasonable coverage without getting a job. I thought that HIPPA would save me, because I've had coverage. But it will cost me almost 2/3 of what I pay each month in rent to get HIPPA coverage, which, at the moment, feels pretty unaffordable. And the state plan (called the California Major Risk Program) will cost only a little less (and covers a lot less, and only provides up to $75,000 in coverage.)  And as someone who has liked being self-employed, it makes me think maybe I should get a job. Or I may end up going without insurance for a while (that is, until Obama fixes things,) which feels very scary. I have always been an advocate single payer health care, but between having a stable academic job, then living in Massachusetts, it never occurred to me that this particular situation would happen to me. It always felt a lot easier to call this system corrupt and evil, when I wasn't caught in it. Caught in it, it feels like there is something wrong with me. The rejection letters I get from insurers make me feel like it's my fault that they won't insure me. Of course, it's not my fault. It's the fault of insurance companies only interested in profit, and politicians without the courage to do something about it. I know fixing this is high on President-elect Obama's list of things to do. If only for selfish reasons, I hope he gets to it sooner rather than later.