Do any of you go WITHOUT health insurance? By choice?

[Dunkopf]

I was debating this issue with some one today and they swore they saw a report that showed that 60% of americans were perfectly happy with the way the insurance industry worked prior to the "reform" (don't get me started).

Happy with their coverage I had heard, but not happy with the way the system worked..... Anyone know where I can get this statistic?? Does anyone know of any of these that are not Rasmussen??

That wouldn't surprise me too much. Most people don't even really know how their insurance works. I bet that stat didn't include the people that don't have any insurance at all and need medical care but can't afford it.

Yeah the whole reform thing kind of went in the toilet. Very stiff propaganda campaign against it. Took advantage of all the people that were totally clueless about the system.

Whats funny is that 53% of the people that voted in 2008 wanted true health care reform. By the time the propaganda machine was through only about 30% wanted it. It's amazing what a well orchestrated propaganda blitz can accomplish.

It's too bad. health care is going to do us in.

That being said i am lucky and I have a great health care plan. Of course my company pays for 70%. I could never afford it on my own.

 

[me&thegals]

I was debating this issue with some one today and they swore they saw a report that showed that 60% of americans were perfectly happy with the way the insurance industry worked prior to the "reform" (don't get me started).

Happy with their coverage I had heard, but not happy with the way the system worked..... Anyone know where I can get this statistic?? Does anyone know of any of these that are not Rasmussen??

That wouldn't surprise me too much. Most people don't even really know how their insurance works. I bet that stat didn't include the people that don't have any insurance at all and need medical care but can't afford it.

Yeah the whole reform thing kind of went in the toilet. Very stiff propaganda campaign against it. Took advantage of all the people that were totally clueless about the system.

Whats funny is that 53% of the people that voted in 2008 wanted true health care reform. By the time the propaganda machine was through only about 30% wanted it. It's amazing what a well orchestrated propaganda blitz can accomplish.

It's too bad. health care is going to do us in.

That being said i am lucky and I have a great health care plan. Of course my company pays for 70%. I could never afford it on my own.

Yup, mine too. And I still have $360 in premiums every 2 weeks! Plus a $1000 deductible. It's affordable for me now, but imagine if all the cost were mine. Of course, it's a much more expensive plan since everybody can be on it (group plan). We, unfortunately, have had a lot of chronic disease and cancer in the group driving (in part) the costs up. That's too bad, yet I'm grateful these folks have a way to get covered. One of those with cancer is a dear friend of ours, and if his wife weren't working here there is no way he could get insurance on his own.

 

[Dunkopf]

I work for a large corporation and they are actually self insured. BCBS administers their plan. This year they started charging a little more for smokers. They also offer help with dieting and exercise. Not like it's mandatory or anything. It helps everyone on their premiums though. There is no profit involved for anyone. Just administrative costs. That's the way health care should be. People shouldn't get rich for doing nothing. I count myself lucky to be in that position.

If I didn't work for them I would have to just get a high deductible plan and hope for the best. Fortunately my kids would be covered under CHP if that happened. At least they did that right.

 

[raro]

What makes me sad is that so many people with serious health problems are forced to keep working because they will lose their insurance. I have stage IV cancer, but fortunately I'm still able to be up and around. But others I know of can barely get out of bed due to extreme pain, chemo, etc. I know I could be in that position easily, and it scares me, because as a widow, I'm the sole provider of my family, and if I don't work, we don't eat. Being on disability is a joke, because it wouldn't even cover half my house payment. I just keep my fingers crossed and keep praying for those who aren't so lucky.

 

[me&thegals]

What makes me sad is that so many people with serious health problems are forced to keep working because they will lose their insurance. I have stage IV cancer, but fortunately I'm still able to be up and around. But others I know of can barely get out of bed due to extreme pain, chemo, etc. I know I could be in that position easily, and it scares me, because as a widow, I'm the sole provider of my family, and if I don't work, we don't eat. Being on disability is a joke, because it wouldn't even cover half my house payment. I just keep my fingers crossed and keep praying for those who aren't so lucky.

I'm so sorry to hear that, raro Our good friend who has cancer is still working, as well as his wife. I wish they could both take a break to fully get him healed and spend more time with their family, but you speak the truth about the reality of it all.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

When I was working as a nurse, I chose not to have health or homeowner's insurances. They are both out of this world, esp after Katrina, so I opened a special account and began making bi-weekly deposits on what I was saving, so if I ever incurred a loss, I could take care of it myself.
Now I am working in a civil service job, so I do have insurance, but I don't feel we should be forced to have insurance. Its not American.

 

[Dunkopf]

When I was working as a nurse, I chose not to have health or homeowner's insurances. They are both out of this world, esp after Katrina, so I opened a special account and began making bi-weekly deposits on what I was saving, so if I ever incurred a loss, I could take care of it myself.
Now I am working in a civil service job, so I do have insurance, but I don't feel we should be forced to have insurance. Its not American.

I agree on the mandate issue. I don't think it's going to stand up. I don't think the guy in charge expects it to either. It was put in to the bill so that they could add in the part about the insurance companies not being able to deny coverage for prior conditions. The insurance companies rightfully were upset that someone could go without coverage until they got sick. Then demand to buy a policy to cover them. So mandated insurance was the obvious solution. Hopefully that part will get struck down and the other part will stay in place.

I don't know about you, but I could never save enough money to pay for anything major. They really messed up the health care bill. If they couldn't do it right and make it a single payer everyone is covered, then they should have just dropped it. As it is the people that are ripping us off so bad just picked up an extra 40 million customers. Unwilling customers at that.

 

[valmom]

Another one here who is really ticked off about how our health "care" reform turned out. It is health insurance reform, not care! I seriously object to being mandated to enrich the insurance companies.

If I didn't have insurance at work I don't know what I'd do. I am healthy, but getting older and I do worry about a horse accident (or car accident) putting me in the hospital. It is truely unaffordable.

 

[Marianne]

I didn't have health insurance for at least 10 years. We just flat couldn't afford it. If I had even the cheapest plan, I couldn't afford to pay for prescription medications or go to the doctor or dentist. Now I have a plan that will at least pay for some but only if I'm admitted into the hospital. Sucks. $300+ a month for just me. But when the time comes that we have to get new wheels? I dunno.

Our daughter worked at a medical clinic doing insurance. She said there were a lot of self pay patients. When the clinic closed, she was considering self pay also after checking into how much insurance rates would be for her. Luckily she found another job that has even better benefits.

A while back, I read that 1/3 of Kansas was uninsured, mostly from rural areas. Sad, the insurance business is the wealthiest business in the world.

 

[lwheelr]

The thing that is most maddening now about Obamacare is that EVERY major organization that supported it has asked for an exemption. Labor unions, major corporations, etc, which were all behind it, have filed for exemptions and have been granted them.

There are also companies that did not support it, which have asked for exemptions, and been denied.

Do we see what this is? Nothing but a power play. Do things our way, or pay through the nose.

I'd rather pay a fine than be bullied into paying for insurance that inflates the cost of healthcare, fails to really relieve any medical cost burden from the average family, and which costs me many times each year what we'd spend on medical coverage.

Even with a kid who had cancer, and facing having babies with birth defects.

The amount of the fine each year will be a heckuva lot less than the amount of insurance you'd pay for and never use. If you are paying out $10000, only using $5000 in coverage and still owing more on top of that, then your healthcare coverage is already stinging you bad. If the government fines you $2000 for not having coverage, then you are still in the black by $3000, more if you can persuade providers to offer a cash discount. Plus we know by the number forecasts that health insurance costs will increase over the next few years (Obama told Congress that the health plan would increase costs for insurance, while telling the American people that it would save them money), so your savings will grow each year.

In fact, many companies have dropped health coverage with just that expectation. If they fail to provide coverage, then the fine is $700 per employee per year, and the government provides the coverage instead. So they just drop it now, and walk away from the responsibility, save some money in the mean time, and then only foot the bill for the fine.

The government gets what they want too - more people dependent on them instead of on themselves.

Stay healthy, look to natural remedies first, and only go to the doctor when it is really necessary. If everyone did that, almost no one would need insurance.