THE HIGH COST OF MIDDLE AGE

Unlike many of my contemporaries, when I was young and eager to make my way in the world, "middle age" wasn't a particularly terrifying prospect to me. I associated middle age with a calm and steady period in life; a time to relax and enjoy the fruits of years of hard work and economic uncertainty. To a certain extent, at least in my case, the calm and steady part is true. I have a lovely home of which the bank only owns 50%, I have two steady jobs; one I like and that other one that pays the mortgage, I don't feel any pressing need to redecorate, and I have all the kitchen utensils I could ever want in case I ever feel the need to cook something.

What I hadn't counted on in middle age was the inevitable decay of the body, and the high cost of it's maintenance. When I was young, I had excellent health care benefits, but I never used them. I never had to. I went to the dentist religiously every six months, but that was it. I didn' t go for regular check-ups, and neither did anyone I knew. If I got a cold or flu, I went to the pharmacy, got a bottle of That Awful Green Stuff and that was that.

But now it's quite a different story, and I would dearly love to have that excellent health care coverage back, because this week my doctor has placed me on two more "maintenance" medications (read: "take these once a day for the rest of your life"), bringing the total so far up to five. Now the prescription coverage I have in my current employer-sponsored plan is only adequate, and I'm beginning to fork out a hefty amount of my middle aged money on medications Presuming I'm walking the Earth for another twenty years or so, could I be up to ten medications a day, and if so, how will I pay for it? In addition, my doctor will not refill any of my prescriptions until he sees me for a follow-up which includes a battery of blood work and a mandatory EKG, and my medical coverage doesn't pay for his visit at all.

This isn't a uniquely American problem. I'm always banging on to anyone who will listen that the NHS in the United Kingdom is a much better system of health care, but a quick check on their site disproves me; a three month pre-payment certificate for a prescription is almost 29 pounds (appx $47), so my coverage has the NHS beaten this time.

So, middle age, while not all bad, isn't exactly the calm and steady time in life I envisioned. It's an ever increasing race to see which will run out first: my money, my insurance coverage my medications, or me, and if any of the first three run out, so will I.

What a depressing prospect. I'd ring my doctor for a prescription for some Valium, but I don't think I can afford it.