Aetna recently declined my application for an only-if-you-get-hit-by-an-18-wheeler-as-long-as-you-weren't-standing-in-the-street health insurance plan.

I have been deemed "high-risk" because I have a history of mild depression.  Never mind the plan states clearly that it does not cover any treatment related to depression, birth control, prenatal care, or child birth, even if they are not pre-existing conditions.

My husband says Aetna did us a favor, saving us the $5000 per year premium.  Maybe.

I'm thinking it's an opportunity to invest in a new approach to health care in this country, i.e., the exchanges that are due to appear in October.  It is an honor in some ways to put my money where my mouth is.

I believe in a nationalized health care system and I am not ashamed to say so.  It is simply barbaric that for Americans health care is a consumer industry rather than a service.

The part that angers me most is that when I tell people I've been deemed high risk, I find I am greeted with a shrug of the shoulders.  It seems like too many of us have given up.  I get that health reform needs to happen in gradual stages because people fear change.  But that more of us aren't more pissed off absolutely baffles me.

By the way, my resting heart rate at the time that I am writing this blog entry is 60 beats per minute.  I'm eating a whole grain raisin english muffin.  When I'm done writing, I'll send the kids off to school and go for my daily 5K run.

Perhaps I should rethink my diet and exercise routine given some pencil-pusher at Aetna is concerned that I'm in a high risk category for getting sick.