Being unemployed in the US means not only no income, but also no company provided health insurance. Somewhere in my life, I've internalized the idea that it is unwise to be without health insurance. It's risky. If something bad happens, you could lose everything.
I have mostly ignored Obamacare to this point in time, because as a resident of the UK, I had the NHS at my disposal in addition to Dr. Who re-runs which interest me more than American politics. But now that I'm returning, jobless, to the US, I have no choice but to figure out what Obamacare means for me.
The first thing it means for me: coverage starts on the first of the month. If I want to be covered in March, I have to apply by the 15th of February. If I apply after that, my coverage will start in April. Since I arrive back in the US in March, I decided to get my application in early so that I would have no gaps in coverage; I'd go straight from the NHS to fully insured in the US.
To this end, I created an account at healthcare.gov. And that's as far as I can go without a US phone number.
Fair enough. On to the possible ways of acquiring a US phone number (without having to "borrow" someone else's).
1. Re-activate my old Verizon phone which I found today at the bottom of a trunk?
No good. Verizon wants to charge me $40 a month for this privilege on a multi-phone "share the minutes" plan. To activate 1 6 year old phone? I think not.
2. Google Voice number?
Google won't provide numbers to those outside the US. Even if I fake being in the US (which I tried courtesy of my work VPN), Google insists that its number must be linked to a real US phone number, which is, of course, the problem I'm trying to solve.
So, no phone. No health insurance. These things are deferred until I arrive in Tulsa.
I'm living on the edge.
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