Some Get Hitched for Health Benefits

Detroit NewsMay 01, 2008

Poll finds 7 percent of Americans married to obtain insurance through their spouse.
Some people marry for love, some for companionship and others for status or money. Now comes another reason to get hitched: health insurance.
In a poll released this week, 7 percent of Americans said they or someone in their household decided to marry in the past year so they could obtain health-care benefits via their spouse.
"It's a small number, but a powerful result, because it shows how paying for health care is reflected not only in family budgets but in life decisions," said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which commissioned the survey as part of its regular polling on health care.
On a broader scale, the survey found that health-care costs outranked housing costs, rising food prices and credit card bills as a source of concern.
Of those surveyed, 28 percent said they had experienced serious problems because of the cost of health care, nearly tied with 29 percent who had problems getting a good job or a raise.
Gas prices were the top economic worry, with 44 percent saying they had serious problems keeping up with increases at the pump.
A companion poll also detected an important shift among voters: Independents in particular say they are more concerned about reducing medical costs than about increasing the number of Americans with health insurance.
In the latest Kaiser poll, 46 percent of independents said the presidential candidates should deal with costs first, and 25 percent said expanding health coverage for the 47 million uninsured people should come next.
The Kaiser polls, conducted April 3-13, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,003 adults and have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.