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1 year agoI met one of my closest friends on r/needafriend. Turns out, she lived like a 10 minute walk from me - and we met up over some food.
On paper, our friendship shouldn’t work. We have little in common in terms of activities and goals. But we know how to make each other laugh and ‘get’ each other’s personality. Been like 9 years.
Whether it’s Reddit, Lemmy, Discord or some other platform - there’s definitely people out there looking for the same things. Online is a good place to start.
See if your closest city has a ‘Speed Friending’ event. Here in Boston, we have “Skip the Small Talk” and you get seated with a stranger and a dialogue prompt. I found that to be really effective too.
An individual can sign up for a plan through their State’s health insurance exchange or the federal government’s HealthCare.gov website.
It is usually more expensive than getting it through an employer - but works to serve small business owners, freelancers, etc.
A few States (like Massachusetts) have semi-universal systems that cover all individuals that earn under 150% of poverty, independent students, newly unemployed, etc.
A lot of Americans are also covered under Medicare, Medicaid , Social Security and other programs.
Retirees aged 65 and older are eligible for Medicare - a semi-universal federal system that covers pretty much everything and accepted most places.