u/Army_Exact

We just moved to Massachusetts, qualified for a plan through the mass version of the affordable care act where we had to pay $200/month but pretty much everything is free. Surgeries are free, labs are free, x rays are free, etc. Seeing a dr is nearly free.

My wife's job is offering her insurance where the cheapest that covers both of us is $300/month and it doesn't cover anything other than prescriptions until we have paid $6,000 out of pocket. And even then they barely cover things. However, this meets the legal definition of affordability so we are going to be kicked off of our good health insurance.

We don't have the option of not having health insurance because my wife has a lot of prescriptions that are prohibitively expensive without insurance, and my grad program requires students to have health insurance.

Massachusetts is one of the better states for healthcare in the country, and we are still in this cursed fucking situation.

How do Americans stand living like this? How are people not in the streets?

Hey! We just moved to the outskirts of Easthampton and still need to sign up for a trash/recycling removal company. Do y'all think there are frequent enough bears out here that its worth paying for the bear proof option?

I appreciate it!

Is there somewhere closer to Noho than baystate in springfield that y'all recommend I go to donate whole blood?

I've recently tried polar kipper snacks and now I need to update my kipper ranking.

Best - polar (amazing, please try)

Runner up - king oscar (variable in quality)

Bad - crown prince and Brunswick (gross and mushy)

Do y'all agree/disagree? Are there other kippers I should try?

If anybody is in the Northampton Mass area, I am moving up there next week and would really love to buy a used hybrid bike for commuting about 6-7 miles to campus. I prefer a bike thats relatively upright. My wife's road bike gives me knots in my upper back from having to be leaned forward on it. I'm 5'6''.

I'm a very broke grad student, and moving across the country is about to use up almost all of our savings, so I'm hoping to score a good deal! I'm lucky that where we are moving, my commute to class will mostly be on a bike trail through a nature park!