I'm really not sure why you're being so argumentative with me. I didn't mention anything political or about who pays. Just that the tax situation is different i

I'm really not sure why you're being so argumentative with me. I didn't mention anything political or about who pays. Just that the tax situation is different if you get health insurance via an employer vs an individual plan. I spend 10% of my income on health insurance. I'm okay with that, but I also have just about the cheapest possible health insurance that isn't major medical and is from a reputable company. Your original argument was about it being an issue in starting a startup. If I had preexisting conditions, the plan I'm on now would not be available. It's also difficult to find plans that cover pregnancy. I'm healthy, so it's true that it's not much of a concern for me. But if the situation were different my insurance could easily be 30-50% of expenses. Or if I got pregnant, I could afford to cover the 10,000-20,000 cost of a normal pregnancy, but if anything went wrong it would cost hundreds of thousands. I'm not saying someone else should pay for my pregnancy, but women shouldn't have to roll the bankruptcy dice when they get pregnant. This is what risk pools are for. The problem is also that it take lot of time to deal with. The plan we're on is an HMO. We've moved a little bit away, so now I'd have to drive 85 miles to see the doctor. I could change plans, but then I'd have to do a lot of research again. I don't want health insurance to cover maintenance, people need to be aware of how much things cost and make economic decisions with respect to health care. Which is why I purchased the plan I did. But the plan is really difficult because price comparison shopping for health care is an unreasonable process. I got a blood test last year. I asked the doctor how much it would cost. He was very surprised by the question and said about 100. I got a bill for 500 for the test, plus all the doctor's fees. I don't have dental insurance and I need a filling. The first quote I got was 363 dollars. Which according to some internet research is far too high. So now I have to spend the afternoon calling around dentists. Some of them won't even give quotes without a visit to look at the cavity. It's hard to price shop and the prices are inflated due to insurance.