If I am going to keep riding my bike I need health insurance!

[shootingstar]

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I continue to be shocked that people I know choose not to insure, I can assure you that countries with UHC take your money (in the UK, NI was 11.5% last time I looked). Insurance requires spreading the risk and not just allowing people who need the care to pay in. Health care in the US is set up as a consumer activity but it is totally ripe for a two tier system.

Of course, if you live anywhere in Canada: you have no choice but to register with the govn't for publicly funded health care insurance card. (The insurance card is tied to some key personal ID government card numbers.) Otherwise....you pretty well WON'T get medical treatment in Canada. Yes, a Canadian doctor will ask for then for your private insurer's info. It's that simple. As long as Obamacare still includes the private insurance companies as driving the fee schedule, it will not solve significant inequities in the U.S. health care system.

Nothing wrong with that in my opinion: mandatory registration for universal health care provided by govn't funds.. and if required, a monthly premium payment to the provincial govn't. (Actually under $65.00 for a single person every 3 months for some provinces.) In Canada you register for public health care with the provincial govn't where you live. If you choose to add on additional private insurance, you can if you wish. Why can't the U.S. make the health care insurance system that simple for the public.?

People are incredibly naïve to think they are invincible and may choose in the U.S. not to be insured. It astounded me to know that ie some university students in the U.S., choose not to be insured. Are they crazy? Sorry, life is full of unpleasant medical/health care surprises.

Last week, I asked my father if he had to pay for his cancer drug treatments (and I know he doesn't have to pay at all for his oncologist appointments..averaging every 2-3 months now. It is a long wait, several hrs. But he's retired. No point, getting into a fit over wait times if you know you'll see a very good specialist physician.) He said no. He's been taking these drugs for last 3 years plus all these appointments.

He's a senior and low income. He didn't have to go through a 3rd private party for being screened for pre-existing conditions, etc. before he got medical care.

People may argue how can one spend such money on an elder?: my response is this a patient who hardly ever got sick at all for about 5 decades in Canada, before his cancer. And thankfully a patient who is dying of cancer but has no additional heart, respiratory, etc. problems.

[Crankin]

I just don't get why people think that health insurance is optional. I don't mind the government being involved at all. I agree, as long as we see it as a business, and not a right, this will continue.
What bothers me the most is that some people I know (in other states, not here) will pay 200.00 a month for cable TV, but not for insurance. And quite a few of my son's friends, opted to risk the tax penalty for not having insurance, when they first got out of school, rather than hook up with one of the very good plans offered through our health care connector. We insisted our son buy it, as he had no benefits with his first job.

[OakLeaf]

Y'know, considering how high the premiums are, and how little is actually covered when you get down to it, I've really considered going bare. I haven't taken that step yet, but I don't unthinkingly choose *to* have insurance, either. Yeah, if I were in an awful accident and had to have major orthopedic surgery, that would be mostly covered. But very little of the rehab would be, and over time that would be the bulk of the expense anyway. I could probably pay for surgery and a week in the hospital with what I've paid in premiums in the last five years.

Did y'all catch the article in the NYT Magazine a couple of weeks ago - which was really about end of life/quality of life issues, about the severely impaired quadriplegic guy (who was injured in a bicycle accident, incidentally) and his wife? It was mostly about how the couple dealt with the emotional issues surrounding his quality of life and whether or not he wants to continue, and whether or not she can cope with it if he decides he doesn't want to. But it mentioned in passing that even though they have extremely generous insurance that covered pretty much all of the initial expenses and much of his rehab, they are now paying $250,000 a year out of their pockets for the ongoing care he needs.

Most people, needless to say, don't get that choice. I wouldn't even get that choice, and I'm the one who can afford insurance on the private market. But I wouldn't be able to pay for the care that that insurance doesn't cover. It really does make me wonder whether it's worth having insurance at all.

[mtbfan]

I ride alot, three times a week. I live in Cali and I do mountain biking. That is why I have 3 types of insurance policies. One is my health insurance plan with BlueCross Blue Shield, then I have an heli-lift policy from CalStar and a stand-alone policy for my bike from Velosurance Bicycle Insurance . Only with these 3 policies I feel safe, well, not safe but protected from anything that may happen to me or my bike. For BCBS I pay $400 a month , for CalStar I pay 40$/year and for Velosurance I pay $120/year. The most expensive here of course is the health insurance but this one you have to have no matter what, cyclist you are or not, you never know when you might need it. Just like a helmet, you dont need it until you need it.

[jobob]

I just don't get why people think that health insurance is optional.

Nor do I.

[kajero]

I don't know why the United States cannot have a decent health care system. Well, yes I do. Too many politicians.
Oakleaf,
Apparently we think alike. My health directive is very explicit and reiterates much of what you said. I have discussed this with my children until they are sick of it.
However, I will keep my insurance mainly to try to protect my life style as long as possible. Believe me, I don't have a luxurious life style.

[luvmyguys]

More companies do cover those things than you think. And the year dh had cancer, YES, I can say the payout alone from insurance for his care more than covered the amount in premiums we've paid in since we graduated from college. I'm irked at the nature of insurance companies, but one cancer diagnosis will make one appreciate even modest insurance.

The deciding factor for us was less "what was covered and what wasn't" and more along the lines of deciding which insurance company was going to fight every claim tooth and nail. Dh's company offers a few selections, and two of those selections offer what seems like similar coverage at drastically different rates, but when we did just a little research, we came to the conclusion that we'd be dealing with a whole lot more insurance drama with the cheaper company.