Some couples marrying for health insurance

Published: Aug. 13, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Order reprints
NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A health policy research group says a poll it conducted this spring indicates health insurance is the reason some U.S. residents are getting married.

The Kaiser Family Foundation says 7 percent of adult respondents in its survey reported someone in their household had married during the past year in order to gain access to medical insurance, The New York Times said Wednesday.

The foundation cautions that the poll numbers shouldn't be taken literally but rather as an intriguing indicator that some Americans "are making major life decisions on the basis of health care concerns."

A case in point is Brandy Brady and Rick Huggins who met in Lake Charles, La., last February and decided to marry two months later, the Times said. Aside from romance, the couple told the Times that Huggins' health insurance policy is behind their rush to the altar.

Stephen L.J. Hoffman, an officiant at a wedding chapel in Kentucky, says he is no longer shocked that 1-in-10 couples cite health insurance as the reason for their marriage, the newspaper report said.


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.



S.F. mayor orders healthy food in city (3 min)
Phelps sets world record in butterfly (13 min)
Lawyer: Couple had right to kill dog (20 min)
Fires blazing across Alaska (39 min)
Palin details ethics complaint costs (41 min)
Report: Judge blocks NFL suspensions (45 min)
Change reduces abortion-pill infections (49 min)
fark
Photoshop this artistic smoker
Swami Baba Ramdev has challenged a landmark Indian court ruling legalising gay sex, claiming it...
AZ man blows a smooth .40 with almost sober looking mugshot
When trying to get away from the police, driving off a boat launch only works on tv and the movies....
Sears, Kmart already selling Christmas merchandise
MoveOn.org draws a crowd of 30 demonstrators in Alabama. None miss work