4 ms·

So I opposed this bill, but now I have an honest question: Rationally speaking, shouldn't I cancel my health insurance? I'll pay the fine, which is way less th

by defen 17y ago

So I opposed this bill, but now I have an honest question: Rationally speaking, shouldn't I cancel my health insurance? I'll pay the fine, which is way less than my current premiums, and I'll just wait until something goes wrong to buy insurance, since I can't be turned down.

blasdel 17y ago
The ban on pre-existing condition screening doesn't kick in until ¿2014? There's a temporary public option for the people who would otherwise still be fucked until then. I'm not sure if you'll be able to get that on short notice.
- rsheridan6 17y ago
  That's really not very far away. Few young healthy people are going to develop cancer or something nasty and expensive like that in the next three and a half years.
  - MartinCron 17y ago
    Healthy young people get in horrible car accidents all the time.
    - grandalf 17y ago
      Q: How much would it cost to insure against such catastrophic outcomes (with a $100 deductible and coverage enough for all hospital bills and recuperation)? A: About $20 per month per person. You're right this is the biggest risk young people face... the rest of their premium is just going to the old folks and their exploiters.
    - rsheridan6 17y ago
      What percentage of healthy young people get in car accidents that require them to pay large medical bills, excluding those that are paid by the other driver's insurance? I doubt it's a very large percentage. The fact that something happens "all the time" in a nation of 300 million does not mean that it's likely to happen to you.
      - btilly 17y ago
        Wait until you're older. While most young people don't have catastrophic things happen. But enough do that I have no idea how many apparently healthy young people I personally know who have contracted cancer, been in accidents, or otherwise had sudden very large costs. Let me give a few. A motorcycle accident broke an arm, and the other person left with no insurance information (my brother's arm is recovered). A propane accident lead to burns over 30% of his body (my brother-in-law Abe survived with significant scarring, but it was touch and go for a while). Hodgkin's lymphoma (killed Mark). A stumble leaving a Halloween part lead to falling with the corner of the step hitting her backbone (Ardith is partially paralyzed + has other health problems). Cancer of the small intestine lead to major surgery and months of chemo (Euna looks like she will survive). A brain cyst lead to balance problems and could have been lethal had it not been for expensive brain surgery (I know 2 women this happened to, both are nicely recovered but one had to never have kids). A jump on a dirt bike went wrong when there proved to be a mine shaft on the other side of the hill he jumped over (Matt is now paraplegic). Oh, and then we have depression leading to suicide attempts (I knew multiple people who succeeded). Then there is the chronic stuff. I know multiple people with diabetes, several more with Chrohn's disease. Severe allergies are common and can be expensive. Schizophrenia hits 1% of the population. These are just some of the people I personally know that stuff happened to. Most (luckily) were covered by someone's insurance. But not all. Yes, you can roll the dice and play roulette. Yes, young people feel immortal. But stuff goes wrong often enough that you're highly advised not to if you have a choice. If you pay attention and live a while, you too will collect a nasty list of sad examples.
        rsheridan6 17y ago
        Most of the things you mentioned, you could see coming quickly enough that you can get on insurance if they can't deny you because of preexisting conditions. You'll be able to get insurance after your get cancer come 2014. The exceptions are the ones involving car wrecks, falls, etc, where you don't have time to fill out paperwork before racking up a huge bill. Even those can do no worse than bankrupt you, and immortal 25 year olds are usually also broke 25 year olds. Not that it's a good thing to go bankrupt, but you're talking about a low single digit chance of an unfortunate but not disastrous event vs thousands of dollars a year. Contrast to the old system where you were liable to go bankrupt AND not get coverage at all with no insurance (for example, see the immigrants who can't get dialysis who were in the press in the last year).
tdoggette 17y ago
See rajat's thread, above.
utnick 17y ago
I don't think that would be a very good move. If you have a serious health problem ( heart attack, stroke, accident ), you will not have time to fill out all of the paperwork and buy insurance because you will need help immediately. Also insurance companies will probably have processing times of weeks when onboarding new customers, so you won't be able to just get the flu and then decide to have insurance that month.

by defen 17y ago

blasdel 17y ago

The ban on pre-existing condition screening doesn't kick in until ¿2014? There's a temporary public option for the people who would otherwise still be fucked until then. I'm not sure if you'll be able to get that on short notice.

rsheridan6 17y ago
That's really not very far away. Few young healthy people are going to develop cancer or something nasty and expensive like that in the next three and a half years.
- MartinCron 17y ago
  Healthy young people get in horrible car accidents all the time.
  - grandalf 17y ago
    Q: How much would it cost to insure against such catastrophic outcomes (with a $100 deductible and coverage enough for all hospital bills and recuperation)? A: About $20 per month per person. You're right this is the biggest risk young people face... the rest of their premium is just going to the old folks and their exploiters.
  - rsheridan6 17y ago
    What percentage of healthy young people get in car accidents that require them to pay large medical bills, excluding those that are paid by the other driver's insurance? I doubt it's a very large percentage. The fact that something happens "all the time" in a nation of 300 million does not mean that it's likely to happen to you.
    - btilly 17y ago
      Wait until you're older. While most young people don't have catastrophic things happen. But enough do that I have no idea how many apparently healthy young people I personally know who have contracted cancer, been in accidents, or otherwise had sudden very large costs. Let me give a few. A motorcycle accident broke an arm, and the other person left with no insurance information (my brother's arm is recovered). A propane accident lead to burns over 30% of his body (my brother-in-law Abe survived with significant scarring, but it was touch and go for a while). Hodgkin's lymphoma (killed Mark). A stumble leaving a Halloween part lead to falling with the corner of the step hitting her backbone (Ardith is partially paralyzed + has other health problems). Cancer of the small intestine lead to major surgery and months of chemo (Euna looks like she will survive). A brain cyst lead to balance problems and could have been lethal had it not been for expensive brain surgery (I know 2 women this happened to, both are nicely recovered but one had to never have kids). A jump on a dirt bike went wrong when there proved to be a mine shaft on the other side of the hill he jumped over (Matt is now paraplegic). Oh, and then we have depression leading to suicide attempts (I knew multiple people who succeeded). Then there is the chronic stuff. I know multiple people with diabetes, several more with Chrohn's disease. Severe allergies are common and can be expensive. Schizophrenia hits 1% of the population. These are just some of the people I personally know that stuff happened to. Most (luckily) were covered by someone's insurance. But not all. Yes, you can roll the dice and play roulette. Yes, young people feel immortal. But stuff goes wrong often enough that you're highly advised not to if you have a choice. If you pay attention and live a while, you too will collect a nasty list of sad examples.
      - rsheridan6 17y ago
        Most of the things you mentioned, you could see coming quickly enough that you can get on insurance if they can't deny you because of preexisting conditions. You'll be able to get insurance after your get cancer come 2014. The exceptions are the ones involving car wrecks, falls, etc, where you don't have time to fill out paperwork before racking up a huge bill. Even those can do no worse than bankrupt you, and immortal 25 year olds are usually also broke 25 year olds. Not that it's a good thing to go bankrupt, but you're talking about a low single digit chance of an unfortunate but not disastrous event vs thousands of dollars a year. Contrast to the old system where you were liable to go bankrupt AND not get coverage at all with no insurance (for example, see the immigrants who can't get dialysis who were in the press in the last year).

tdoggette 17y ago

See rajat's thread, above.

utnick 17y ago

I don't think that would be a very good move. If you have a serious health problem ( heart attack, stroke, accident ), you will not have time to fill out all of the paperwork and buy insurance because you will need help immediately. Also insurance companies will probably have processing times of weeks when onboarding new customers, so you won't be able to just get the flu and then decide to have insurance that month.