Just Not Funny
“Insurance Company, a guy just ran into my car. I want to buy some insurance so you'll cover the cost of repairs.”
“Insurance Company, I've developed cancer. I want to buy some insurance so you'll cover the cost of my health care.”
The Insurance Company would laugh at the first two calls. What is different about the last call? Nothing.
Insurance companies make a bet that you'll pay more for insurance than you'll ever need for auto repairs or home repairs or medical expenses. It's a business which provides the service of allowing holders of policies to have a degree of assurance that their financial lives won't be destroyed by debt.
You can purchase it if you want it. You don't have to purchase if you don't want it.
Medicare and Medicaid are government funded insurance programs for the aged and the poor.
Medicare is a program of hospitalization insurance and voluntary insurance for persons aged 65 and over and for certain disabled persons under 65.
Medicaid, financed by federal, state, and local funds, is hospitalization insurance for persons of all ages within certain income limits.
Both of these programs were created with good intentions and work reasonably well if one doesn't take into consideration the fraud element.
“Not good enough,” say some folks. The insurance companies are making too much money (approximately 3-5%). “The insurance companies must not only offer insurance to all following government guidelines of everything that they must cover, but also they must cover those with pre-existing conditions.
Hmmm.
Seems to me this insistence drives up everyone else's insurance costs. Hmmm. Well, the one’s who don't have insurance and do have pre-existing conditions should be able to rely on Medicaid.
Hmmm. Some doctors are refusing Medicaid patients because their compensation costs so much that the governmental entities don't want to pay.
Hmmm. However, the government wants the insurance companies to insure those with pre-existing conditions---a certain loser for them.
Now, those with pre-existing conditions can get insurance from some insurance companies, but it will cost them an exorbitant fee. They gambled on a new iphone or ipod or something else they desired, and they probably enjoy them. They gambled that they would not become ill, and they lost.
Hmmm. Seems harsh. It is harsh. Medicaid seems to be the way out for these folks. It's not quite as dignified as paying for insurance in anticipation of possible illnesses, but it is what it is.
The insurance companies got on board the Obamacare train when they realized that it was a gold mine for them---everyone had to purchase insurance and the deductibles were so high…what a deal.
I'm sure there are plenty of fingers to be pointed at any number of entities which have driven the cost of health care to astronomical cost levels as it has, but the insurance companies are just trying to make a buck (3-5%). Free them from their restrictive rules imposed by the federal government, allow them to compete across state lines, and get out of the way.
The nice thing about private companies in a competitive economy is that if they charge too much for their goods, individuals and companies will quit purchasing their products. Lower insurance rates means more purchasers.
Folks who didn't avail themselves of health insurance before they needed healthcare are going to cost all of us money: either tax money or private insurance costs.
There, obviously, is no easy answer to healthcare costs in our country, but forcing insurance companies to provide insurance for folks unwilling or unable to pay for it in advance of health problems is a joke---just not funny.
enough