The Challenge of Health Care for Adjuncts

The other day I was perusing the fruits and vegetables at the supermarket. Next to me was a middle-aged man, dressed in clothes covered in paint from his day of obvious manual labor. Out of the corner of my eye I caught him shaking his head from side-to-side while looking at the prices.

He looked right at me and said, “I just can’t afford anything these days.”

“I hear you,” I replied.

This sentiment seems more relevant today than at any time in the recent decades. Gas prices alone are causing us financial crises both at the pump and when buying goods that are imported or shipped across the country. Families and individuals are pinching pennies at every turn trying to afford simple living. The sad fact of this national crisis is that it is those of us who are already struggling who are hit the hardest.

I have four jobs. I teach 10 ESH each semester at Montgomery College, I work 20 hours per week in the Writing Center, I work scoring TOEFL tests online, and I pick up the occasional bartending gig in D.C. On paper I work 29 hours a week at Montgomery College alone (not counting the 20 hours I spend a week grading papers and working on various college committees). Additionally, I work anywhere from 8 to 20 extra hours a week at my other two jobs.

It may, perhaps, seem ridiculous to stretch oneself so thin like this. The sad fact is that I probably still make less than a full-time Montgomery College faculty member. However, I care about changing the world so I work at Montgomery College. But I also live in the D.C. area, and cities are expensive. My monthly bills include rent, electricity, car insurance, cell phone, internet, college loans, and health care. I don’t work four jobs because I’m a workaholic. I do it because I have to.

I pay $300 a month for health insurance. From what I hear from other adjuncts, this is relatively low. A couple of months back, I broke two bones in my hand doing Muay Thai boxing, and my medical bills were over $3,000. As an active person I may be more prone to accident than others, but health insurance should be an affordable option for all.

Montgomery College has the luxury of only paying benefits to full-time faculty. The rest of us who teach here, and who incidentally make up the majority of the teaching faculty, are left up the proverbial creek. In fact, we are the only group of part-time workers at the College who do not receive benefits. Part-time staff and administrators receive pro-rated health, tuition and pension benefits.

Of course, adjuncts at Montgomery College want to improve our lot. Health benefits aren’t a luxury; they are something we need. Public sector work is a choice we adjuncts make. We want to make the world a better place, we want to help those most in need, and our passion to teach is what drives us. But how can we help others when we are barely getting by ourselves?