Dont Want Insurance, dont offer insurance? Get Fined!

[blue]

blue, how will you manage if you get hurt in an accident or have an illness? i am curious. thank you joyce

So it shouldnt be my choice not to have health insurance? I am curious, why it shouldnt be my choice and my problem?

I could have lost my leg last year and I am still paying off that debt, my job at the time didnt offer insurance. Jim, my boss at the time, would have fired most of his employees if he was forced by the feds to cover us.

Our government was supposed to work from the bottom up, not from the top down.

[katladyd]

I had a job that offered health insurance, once. I could in no way afford it. It would have taken almost one-half of my paycheck! I still can't afford health insurance and I work three jobs! If they want to fine me, let them fine me. I won't be able to pay that, either. Sorry for all of you who can afford insurance who are inconvenienced by those of us who can't. I have to decide between health insurance and eating. I take eating. It would cost me over $600 per month, and that's without dental or vision insurance. I can't afford that!

[joycenalex]

no blue that is NOT what i asked.....you know that emergency/ critical/chronic health care is expensive, and my question IS just that....how do you plan to pay for that? When you use health care from the 21st century medical services, "someone" has already paid for the equipment that takes the xray, the medical physicist that makes sure the machine is running safely, the information systems gal that makes sure the images gets to the radiologist who reads the film, the technologist who takes the images, the maintenance contract on the digital image plate that holds the images that the radiologist needs to see if that bone is broken or there is an infection in the bone. "someone" packs and sterilizes the tray that cleans the wound to make sure that the patient isn't allergic to and sutures the wound, "someone" in pharmacy drew up the syringe that has the right antibiotic to 1-treat the infection and 2- would not cause an anaphylactic reaction (which means medical records pulled the any chart for the ER doc to check before meds are ordered and used and the pharmacist checked the electronic medical records lists of(possibly allergic drugs too,) so the safety double check happens ) . then to the saints in the ER...the admission clerk who gets as much info to start the process....john doe #1 if non responding, john doe #15 on a bad night..., the the nurse who pulls a sterile intubation tube to open an airway so john doe #8 keeps breathing while an or tech shoves packing into the wound so the blood stays in the person instead of making the floor slippery while the ER doc keeps the whole circus going, and the person from housekeeping(who gets no respect and minimal thanks) who mops then sterilizes the floor, so the next patient getsa a clean bay too and the supply clerk who whisks in to restock the trauma cart, ....and remember blue, this all happens da** fast, cause no one wants to wait, EVER in an ER...and when it's your kid or your elderly mom, it's a hundred times worse. we want 21st century almost instant medicine, yet having 19th century notions of (re)payment isn't gonna work. the days of a small town doctor, making due, with out xray or lab like the movies show is gone. and it's more then just your one person problem, it's become a problem for the whole of society.
blue, i'm not attacking or criticizing you, i'm seriously asking how do you pay for 21st century health with 19th ideas?

So it shouldnt be my choice not to have health insurance? I am curious, why it shouldnt be my choice and my problem?

I could have lost my leg last year and I am still paying off that debt, my job at the time didnt offer insurance. Jim, my boss at the time, would have fired most of his employees if he was forced by the feds to cover us.

Our government was supposed to work from the bottom up, not from the top down.

[joycenalex]

and i see insurance as this....i'm betting that i will need that service (auto/home owners/health/disability income) and my monies go to pay for it, in a group with a whole bunch of other people, and the insurance company is betting i won't need it.
i have gone years, when i was in my 20's without regular health care, but as i aged, things changed, and i need more health care, now in my 50's, i'm a pretty savvy consumer, having some choice in my care, so my bet with my (crappy employer provided health care) is different.
and insurance companies making billions of profit is immoral. making profit is not, no one works for free, but making so much money is gouging people. ....this is the company that is my employers choice for our health insurance provider(from the NYT article of 7/31/2007................."Humana, based in Louisville, posted net income of $216.8 million.....Revenue rose 19 percent, to $6.43 billion, compared with $5.41 billion a year ago, ....Michael B. McCallister, Humana’s president and chief executive, called it “probably the best quarter we’ve had” since he became the company’s chief executive in 2000. He said it was a result of “virtually every line of business doing better,” noting improvements in the commercial segment and expansion of the company’s Medicare business. "

[blue]

no blue that is NOT what i asked.....

Ive managed this long so far, Ill manage in the future. I allmost lost my leg last year and Im still paying for that infection. Its my choice and Im paying for it. I shouldnt be fined for that choice in this Country.

[pomtzu]

Ive managed this long so far, Ill manage in the future. I allmost lost my leg last year and Im still paying for that infection. Its my choice and Im paying for it. I shouldnt be fined for that choice in this Country.

I don't understand people saying they would rather pay off medical bills (maybe for years), rather than pay a relatively small amount (in comparison) for insurance each month.
I couldn't live with the possibility of "what if", hanging over my head every day without insurance, but that's just the way I am. Everyone is different, and if it doesn't bother you, then it must be worth the gamble. I never was a gambler! Had I been - I would have lost big time.

[beeniesmom]

Ive managed this long so far, Ill manage in the future. I allmost lost my leg last year and Im still paying for that infection. Its my choice and Im paying for it. I shouldnt be fined for that choice in this country.

I don't know... I guess you are right... it should be your choice, but it's not a very sensible one.
What other option do you think is plausable?
Instead of being fined, would you rather be refused treatment in case of emergency because you lack the common sense to have insurance?

Why should people who have insurance have to pay for you if you get hurt or sick in the future? It's my understanding that health insurance is so high because of the people who don't have it.

Regardless of that... I used to think I never would need it.
I'm young ... and WAS healthy.

I am so glad that I do. I've had so many medical issues pop up in the last two years, it's not even funny. If I didn't have health insurance already, I probably would not insurable now and I'm only 32. Better to pay a little now then be in debt up to your ass for something in the future.
Just my two cents. Take it however way you want.

[pomtzu]

Sorry for all of you who can afford insurance who are inconvenienced by those of us who can't.

It could come down to a whole lot more than just an inconvenience if there is no triage team to sort out the sniffles or diaper rash or headache of the uninsured, from more serious issues of the insured. I would hope that all ER's have one, but I would suspect they don't. I would have been one p.o.'ed puppy if I had been treated on a first come/first served basis when I fractured my wrist. As it was, my surgeon told me that several people ahead of me that had been waiting several hours, complained when I was taken back after only about a 15 minute wait. So sorry that the woman with a headache, and the one whose baby had diaper rash and with no insurance, was inconvenienced by me. And by the way - I'm paying their bill too!

And to all of you that say you can't afford it - what about state aid - Medicaid? If your income is at a level that you can't afford a pricey commercial policy, have you checked out other options? There's a lot out there that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. You just have to look for it, because it's not going to come to you. Even minimal coverage, is better than none at all.

[RICHARD]

There is a common misconception that Medi-Cal/Medic-Aid is there for the asking. IF you break a leg, for example, they will make you jump thru hoops before you even begin to see anyone for an illness.


Oh, I would not mind to see a state run insurance program for people who need to be covered.....but it has to be done with the patient in mind. Not companies who are out to make money selling info systems/replacement parts and meds.

Here's a little clue.

Look at companies in the "Heath Info System" race and see they have to offer, what the timeline of their product is-cutting edge tech is obsolete in what? 12 months? Check the stock value and compare it with all the news/press coming out of D.C.

The millions to be made are on the table now. The medical centers will pass along the costs of any Med Rec upgrades to the people using the system. It's the same with implants and meds. We all pay the best for so-so treatment anyway...so why all the excitement?


It's all about money.