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I've had chronic, sever depression. Never went to a doctor. Stopped drinking and changed my diet and prayer. Fine now. My wife is a social worker who worked wit

I've had chronic, sever depression. Never went to a doctor. Stopped drinking and changed my diet and prayer. Fine now. My wife is a social worker who worked with kids with emotional issues. She issued the depression test to me once a month. All in house. > People change their minds, and sometimes you're not capable or competent to decide for yourself. This means one of two things. 1st, I should be able to upgrade my policy or pickup a secondary one. 2nd, my family will have to live with the results of my earlier decision to not include mental health in my coverage. Decisions have consequences. The government shouldn't force me to pickup coverage just because they think it might be a bad decision to forgo it.

mikeash 10y ago
If you change your mind due to coming down with some condition, then you won't be able to upgrade your policy or pick up a secondary one, because that will be a preexisting condition. So, one of a few things will happen. You may forego treatment and recover, in which case great. You may forego treatment and remain ill, meaning we all lose out due to the loss of a productive member of society. (Or, worse, you hurt a bunch of people.) You may seek treatment and be able to afford it, in which case great. Or you may seek treatment and be unable to afford it, meaning the rest of us get to pay for it for you. That last one in particular is why we like to force people to have insurance. It's basically the same as forcing you to have liability insurance for your car. You can end up costing others a bunch of money, so we want to make sure you're able to pay it back. Decisions have consequences. So long as the consequences remain confined to the person making the decision, I don't care much. But once they start impacting others, there's trouble.
- virmundi 10y ago
  By that logic everyone should have the cadillac plans since they cover the most things. Where do we draw the line at required?
  - mikeash 10y ago
    The line would be stuff you need rather than just want, and which can be expensive enough to bankrupt you.
  - yardie 10y ago
    I've volunteered at hospitals when I was a teenager. The guys with the Cadillac plans got the same medical treatment as everyone else but they had a single bed penthouse suite closer to a hotel in accouterments than a hospital, a larger meal selection, insuite TV and telephone. You do a disservice by calling everything you don't agree with cadillac coverage. Clearly you've never had it.
mullen 10y ago
> 2nd, my family will have to live with the results of my earlier decision to not include mental health in my coverage. Decisions have consequences. The government shouldn't force me to pickup coverage just because they think it might be a bad decision to forgo it. You must be wonderful to have as a family member. Mother: Hey, crazy cousin virmundi is coming to stay with you because he does not have mental health insurance and there is no government social safety net! Me: Uh, what!? Mother: Can you clear the guns and knives out of your house? Me: Uh, what!?

mikeash 10y ago

If you change your mind due to coming down with some condition, then you won't be able to upgrade your policy or pick up a secondary one, because that will be a preexisting condition. So, one of a few things will happen. You may forego treatment and recover, in which case great. You may forego treatment and remain ill, meaning we all lose out due to the loss of a productive member of society. (Or, worse, you hurt a bunch of people.) You may seek treatment and be able to afford it, in which case great. Or you may seek treatment and be unable to afford it, meaning the rest of us get to pay for it for you. That last one in particular is why we like to force people to have insurance. It's basically the same as forcing you to have liability insurance for your car. You can end up costing others a bunch of money, so we want to make sure you're able to pay it back. Decisions have consequences. So long as the consequences remain confined to the person making the decision, I don't care much. But once they start impacting others, there's trouble.

virmundi 10y ago
By that logic everyone should have the cadillac plans since they cover the most things. Where do we draw the line at required?
- mikeash 10y ago
  The line would be stuff you need rather than just want, and which can be expensive enough to bankrupt you.
- yardie 10y ago
  I've volunteered at hospitals when I was a teenager. The guys with the Cadillac plans got the same medical treatment as everyone else but they had a single bed penthouse suite closer to a hotel in accouterments than a hospital, a larger meal selection, insuite TV and telephone. You do a disservice by calling everything you don't agree with cadillac coverage. Clearly you've never had it.

mullen 10y ago

> 2nd, my family will have to live with the results of my earlier decision to not include mental health in my coverage. Decisions have consequences. The government shouldn't force me to pickup coverage just because they think it might be a bad decision to forgo it. You must be wonderful to have as a family member. Mother: Hey, crazy cousin virmundi is coming to stay with you because he does not have mental health insurance and there is no government social safety net! Me: Uh, what!? Mother: Can you clear the guns and knives out of your house? Me: Uh, what!?