In sickness and health insurance. At a time when the typical family health plan costs upward of $12,000 a year, sharing a group health insurance policy number is more than a token way to say “I love you.” According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 7 percent of respondents said they or someone they lived with decided to get married in the last year in order either to have access to health insurance benefits or to give their new spouse access. The poll also reported other ways in which health care is emerging as an influential economic factor in many people’s lives. Twenty- eight percent of middle-income families earning between $30,000 and $75,000 reported having a serious problem affording health care because of recent changes in the economy. Nearly a quarter said that within the past year, they or someone they lived with had either taken a new job or stayed with their current one because of better health benefits. U.S. News and World Report
