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91st out of 261 books
—
180 voters
Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir
by
Sonya Huber (Goodreads Author)
Growing up in middle-class middle America, Sonya Huber viewed health care as did most of her peers: as an inconvenience or not at all. There were braces and cavities, medications and stitches, the family doctor and the local dentist. Finding herself without health insurance after college graduation, she didn’t worry. It was a temporary problem. Thirteen years and twenty-th...more
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published
October 1st 2010
by University of Nebraska Press
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A memoir of Sonya Huber's harrowing journey through almost an entire life without health care benefits. In detailing the day to day stress of living without coverage, the story generates almost as much suspense as a thriller. Her feelings of vulnerability are emotionally documented here along with the dread of encountering some new health crisis. In our country's current climate where tens of millions have no medical coverage whatsoever and healthcare is bartered as a privilege rather than a god...more
Wow, that's....some cover. WTG publishers. Half-naked decapitated woman! Somehow I don't think that's meant to be some kind of metaphorical illustration of her journey through the Valley of the Shadow of Uninsurance.
"Cover Me" traces Huber's experiences in and out of coverage (and in and out of network!) from childhood through college and graduate school, marriage, childbirth and single motherhood, and while you might imagine this would be as dry as reading your insurer's Explanation of Benefits, Huber's writing is electric; it sparkles with sharp observations, wry humor, and unsparing honesty about her "health care hookup story." The book is timely and important, but also, always, a flat-out pleasure to re...more
The first 2/3 of this book were really tough to get in to. The author kind of rambles through retelling the story of her early 20's, seemingly highlighted by every sinus infection (of which there were many) and low-paying job (also many) she ever had. I think part of the problem was that many of the chapters were each individual essays she had written and submitted to various magazines on their own, and when they were compiled in to a book, they didn't really flow. But the author hits her stride...more
1 like · like · see review
I am giving this title 3 stars. (It probably deserves more.) I am, at the same time, assigning 5 stars to Sonya Huber. I like her tenacity. I like her flaws. I like her brutal honesty about herself and her journey. I have met a lot of people like Sonya. If things had gone just a little differently in my own life, I would have probably experienced some of the same travails she pushed through. In these precarious times I still cannot rule out these crises. My master's degree can't guarantee I will...more
Don't be fooled by the catchy cover and the expose title: this is exactly what it says it is, a memoir about not being covered for health insurance. It is beautifully written, with sentences that leap off the page, and it is smart and subtle, bringing into sharp focus the banality of a situation that is so unnecessary and so easily avoided, and yet also so inevitable and exhausting and destructive. But it is a one person story, not an expose on health insurance. It's a touching read, and a well...more
I’ve been a fan of Sonya Huber for a while, so I was really looking forward to this book— and just as I suspected, it’s a rocking good read. Vibrant, articulate, and smart all the way to the middle, Cover Me: A Health Insurance Memoir hits all the right spots, from the nitty-gritty checks and balances of do-it-yourself healthcare to the larger moral issues of coverage for all. It’s an honest take on our human bodies with their various needs and glories, and the corporate and governmental net tha...more
1 like · like · see review
This book was a memoir of the author's life related to her health woes and her health care insurance coverage. At times I was quite frustrated reading about the author's life choices and the consequences from inadequate care, not necessarily related to her insurance. The lesson that I took away from this book is that you should obtain a job with good benefits and don't scrimp on your care.
The book is pretty exhausting. She bounces back and forth between jobs with medical insurance and jobs without. It was more of a memoir about her life than a health insurance memoir. I expected some great knowledge out of this book but was disapointed.
Cover Me makes us all a little more willing to share our stories and give a voice to our frustrations. This book isn’t a radical call for change, it doesn’t offer solutions; rather, it begins a much-needed dialogue. Political party battle lines and what ifs about medical care dissolve into the idea that medical care and our health are very basic needs that every United States citizen should be able to rely on without stress, frustration or embarrassment. This book illustrates, in a way that mere...more
This was my first Good Reads giveaway, which I won.
The subject of this book is one that our country needs and IS looking at very carefully. The author has a certain style that uses sarcasm that works for many, just not for me.
The noice that this book was being sent to me was emailed to me on October, 2010. This book arrived within about 3 weeks, if I recall correctly. I dont recall the date of the first review, but it certainly, I surely dont believe, was in 2011. I have no way, as of yet, as I...more
The subject of this book is one that our country needs and IS looking at very carefully. The author has a certain style that uses sarcasm that works for many, just not for me.
The noice that this book was being sent to me was emailed to me on October, 2010. This book arrived within about 3 weeks, if I recall correctly. I dont recall the date of the first review, but it certainly, I surely dont believe, was in 2011. I have no way, as of yet, as I...more
"The real threat was the large gray area: above poverty but far below enough to buy the cheapest health insurance."(p144) -And that's exactly where I myself, have been living for the past decade since I graduated college. I guess I had hoped for more tips & tricks from this book. What I did find, was myself silently nodding with familiarity all too often. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has taken their health care for granted or who suffers from the delusion that there are p...more
I want to read this, but it may make me even more shrill than usual. HMM.
Oct 06, 2011
Becky Campbell Gomolka
added it
*** I received this book free through GoodReads ***
I agree with other reviews here, the first 2/3 of this book are disjointed and slow. At points I was cursing either the editor or the writer for the seemingly random developments, and people.
With that said, I believe this book to be good, although not great. I am disappointed, I so wanted this book to be great. I've been in Ms. Huber's footsteps, as I, too, have navigated life without health insurance. It's a story that more people need to read...more
I agree with other reviews here, the first 2/3 of this book are disjointed and slow. At points I was cursing either the editor or the writer for the seemingly random developments, and people.
With that said, I believe this book to be good, although not great. I am disappointed, I so wanted this book to be great. I've been in Ms. Huber's footsteps, as I, too, have navigated life without health insurance. It's a story that more people need to read...more
I should be getting ready for work right now, but I'm at about page 45 in this book and I wanted to run to the computer and tell everyone how awesome it is. The author, Sonya Huber, was also around the Minnesota and northeastern anarchist scenes in the early '90s, so that had me hooked already. Can I give it 5 stars right now? I may downgrade it as I read on, but we'll see.
Update: Ok, this started off strong for me, but somewhere about 2/3 of the way through I just wasn't as into it anymore.
Update: Ok, this started off strong for me, but somewhere about 2/3 of the way through I just wasn't as into it anymore.
A timely book about a college-educated woman who works at various jobs for non-profits (some of them labor activism and some of them health-care advocacy related) and her struggles to get health care and maintain her health. Funny, ironic, and important. I highly recommend it. It's from the University of Nebraska's series on class in America, and I hope they publish more books on social class.
I'm looking forward to reading this, as even though the health care bill has passed, the debate rages on.
I'm enjoying the 'voice' of this - very anecdotal.
I'm enjoying the 'voice' of this - very anecdotal.
Well written. Compelling and provocative. Excellent book about this fucked up health care system. Appreciate the explicit class analysis.
May 19, 2013
Jennifer Merriman
marked it as to-read
May 09, 2013
Kate
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Mar 27, 2013
Jeff
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Sonya Huber is an assistant professor of creative writing at Fairfield University. Her work has appeared in literary journals including Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, Topic, Passages North, Main Street Rag, Literary Mama, Kaleidoscope, Hotel Amerika, Sports Literate, and other; in anthologies including Learning to Glow (University of Arizona Press), Young Wives' Tales (Seal Press), Bare Your S...more
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Feb 27, 2011 04:54am