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If the law permits the murder of tens of thousands every year by health insurers, then what is wrong (morally speaking) with breaking it, so long as one doesn't

If the law permits the murder of tens of thousands every year by health insurers, then what is wrong (morally speaking) with breaking it, so long as one doesn't get caught? Law that allows such configurations as we have now has no moral authority. That doesn't mean I advocate most crimes. I wouldn't kill or rob someone except under extreme and highly improbable circumstances, but that's because those actions are wrong, not because they're illegal.

kreneskyp 17y ago
he didn't mention anything about the morals of it. Just that your plan is likely to backfire.
- pw0ncakes 17y ago
  My net worth is less than $10,000. I live in New York, so I neither own nor need a car. I think I could pull it off. I buy about $1000 of computer science textbooks that I've been meaning to buy, take a nice vacation, then put the rest into physical gold and hide it. It would be a huge hassle, but less life-ruining than medical debt is for people who are older and more established. 99% of what I own is the knowledge and skill I've gained over the years, and that can't be taken in BK. If my net worth were greater than $50,000, or if I had a wife and children to protect, I would have to buy health insurance. Realistically, if I thought I were about to get sick, I'd get on a health insurance plan as easily as I could. It'd be easier to bribe a doctor sufficient to hide a pre-X (post-date the intake forms) than to pull off bankruptcy fraud.
  - j_baker 17y ago
    "My net worth is less than $10,000." I doubt you'd even have to worry about it then. Chances are good you'd be able to keep most (if not all) of your stuff. (Insert standard IANAL disclaimers here)
    - pw0ncakes 17y ago
      Right. If I had substantial net worth and owned a home, then I'd want to buy health insurance in order to protect those assets. I think this, more than that we're healthier, is one of the reasons people in their 20s opt out. Health insurance is useful in the semi-bad cases (e.g. a $25,000 one-off expenditure) but has plenty of mechanisms (life caps, rescissions) that enable it to abandon you anyway in event of catastrophe. We (young people) are as vulnerable as anyone else to catastrophes-- and if health insurance was any good during those, I might consider buying a plan-- but the mid-sized stuff rolls off of us because we're young and don't have much (materially) to lose. So why buy health insurance? I know my chance of preventable death is slightly higher, but not monstrously so.

kreneskyp 17y ago

he didn't mention anything about the morals of it. Just that your plan is likely to backfire.

pw0ncakes 17y ago
My net worth is less than $10,000. I live in New York, so I neither own nor need a car. I think I could pull it off. I buy about $1000 of computer science textbooks that I've been meaning to buy, take a nice vacation, then put the rest into physical gold and hide it. It would be a huge hassle, but less life-ruining than medical debt is for people who are older and more established. 99% of what I own is the knowledge and skill I've gained over the years, and that can't be taken in BK. If my net worth were greater than $50,000, or if I had a wife and children to protect, I would have to buy health insurance. Realistically, if I thought I were about to get sick, I'd get on a health insurance plan as easily as I could. It'd be easier to bribe a doctor sufficient to hide a pre-X (post-date the intake forms) than to pull off bankruptcy fraud.
- j_baker 17y ago
  "My net worth is less than $10,000." I doubt you'd even have to worry about it then. Chances are good you'd be able to keep most (if not all) of your stuff. (Insert standard IANAL disclaimers here)
  - pw0ncakes 17y ago
    Right. If I had substantial net worth and owned a home, then I'd want to buy health insurance in order to protect those assets. I think this, more than that we're healthier, is one of the reasons people in their 20s opt out. Health insurance is useful in the semi-bad cases (e.g. a $25,000 one-off expenditure) but has plenty of mechanisms (life caps, rescissions) that enable it to abandon you anyway in event of catastrophe. We (young people) are as vulnerable as anyone else to catastrophes-- and if health insurance was any good during those, I might consider buying a plan-- but the mid-sized stuff rolls off of us because we're young and don't have much (materially) to lose. So why buy health insurance? I know my chance of preventable death is slightly higher, but not monstrously so.