i've known about the term "working poor" for quite some time now and the book "nickel and dimed" just reaffirmed much of what i already knew. the book didn't just cover health care / health insurance and the lack there of, of the "working poor" but it came up in every example that was illustrated. dow also mentioned a documentary that he worked on that covered similar stories.

a personal example of a young couple who i assumed with their professions would surely be covered, i find out are not. my nephew is a chef with training from a culinary school. he is the head chef at a good restaurant at the shore (think high traffic from lots of tourists in the summer months) that employs him 35 hours a week, so they don't have to give him benefits. i know this is fairly common practice, other family and friends are similarly employed. my nephew's wife is a teacher, but i didn't realize til the other day that finding a teaching job where they live is difficult and thus she is a substitute teacher. the demand for that is high enough that she essentially works full time, but she has very minimal health care coverage. it will be enough to help pay the hospital bills when the new baby comes, but it does not cover my nephew. fortunately for them, they are both healthy. let's just hope my new great niece or nephew is as well.