Posted by alguna_rubia at 4:45pm Sep 1 '09I think for-profit health insurance is a disgusting industry, and this is the perfect prompt for me to illustrate why.
Other kinds of insurance, like car insurance or homeowner's insurance, involve taking an optional risk. You buy car insurance because for a small fee each month, you know you'll never be totally blindsided by huge costs when you get into a crash. The less risk you take, the less you have to pay. If you don't want to pay any at all, you can just not drive a car.
With a few exceptions, like smoking and other drugs, you don't take on optional risks when it comes to health. There are no behaviors which cause you to have Crohn's disease, or many types of cancers, or severe respiratory problems like Sophie's. As the old saying goes, "There but for the grace of God go you."
So basically, health insurance makes money by exploiting people's fear of bad luck. And to people who say, "I don't want to pay for someone else's health care," I would like to say, what if you're next and you can't afford whatever disease you've managed to get? Even if you have insurance, don't be so sure that it won't make your life a nightmare anyway. My dad had United Healthcare. Their strategy for making money is to deny rightful insurance claims over and over in the hopes that you'll give up and just pay it for them. WE WERE STILL FIGHTING SOME OF HIS CHEMO BILLS 2 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH.
Plus, all this expense encourages dangerous behavior. I know a lot of people who would not call an ambulance if they needed stitches, would not go to the emergency room- because they don't have insurance. So what would they do? Stitch themselves up. It's dicey at best.
I could go on about this for hours, but I think that's probably not a good idea.
Other kinds of insurance, like car insurance or homeowner's insurance, involve taking an optional risk. You buy car insurance because for a small fee each month, you know you'll never be totally blindsided by huge costs when you get into a crash. The less risk you take, the less you have to pay. If you don't want to pay any at all, you can just not drive a car.
With a few exceptions, like smoking and other drugs, you don't take on optional risks when it comes to health. There are no behaviors which cause you to have Crohn's disease, or many types of cancers, or severe respiratory problems like Sophie's. As the old saying goes, "There but for the grace of God go you."
So basically, health insurance makes money by exploiting people's fear of bad luck. And to people who say, "I don't want to pay for someone else's health care," I would like to say, what if you're next and you can't afford whatever disease you've managed to get? Even if you have insurance, don't be so sure that it won't make your life a nightmare anyway. My dad had United Healthcare. Their strategy for making money is to deny rightful insurance claims over and over in the hopes that you'll give up and just pay it for them. WE WERE STILL FIGHTING SOME OF HIS CHEMO BILLS 2 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH.
Plus, all this expense encourages dangerous behavior. I know a lot of people who would not call an ambulance if they needed stitches, would not go to the emergency room- because they don't have insurance. So what would they do? Stitch themselves up. It's dicey at best.
I could go on about this for hours, but I think that's probably not a good idea.
Re: Should Sophie Get Health Insurance? - alguna_rubia