A Livingston, Montana man, Terry, once worked for a small sign company, but the wages were bad, the hours irregular. Still, the company at one time provided health insurance benefits, so the job had its value. But citing rising costs, the company dropped that benefit. Terry was left working for low wages ($12 per hour) and no benefits. He realized he could make more money on his own, but that he would lose the two protections left employed people that are mandated by state law: Workers Compensation insurance, and unemployment benefits.
Terry struck out on his own, and has been hiring himself out for any sort of craftsman’s work in the Livingston area. He bills at a much higher rate than he was paid in wages, and makes enough money to pay his bills. However, health insurance is still out of the question as he and his wife are in their fifties, and premium costs are out of reach. And who knows – at that age, they might have preexisting conditions. They had to go bare – it’s a chance they had to take.
This week Terry had an accident on a job, and broke both of his shoulder blades. He is now laid up, deep in medical debt and has no income to boot.
Soon to come: bankruptcy and tut-tuts that he should have managed his money better.
Piece of Mindful 
Vote McCain!
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