a lot of the uninsured could actually afford medical coverage?
with all this talk about medical reform, i keep hearing people say that many of the uninsured can afford medical coverage, but choose not to pay for it. 1. How much money are these people making? 2. i make $22k/yr. and am uninsured. is there coverage i could afford?
2009-09-11T22:58:10Z
as for my expenses, i live in california, which has a ridiculous cost of living (i didn't choose to live here, i was born here). yes, i have looked into insurance, and it's all too expensive/has a high deductible/doesn't really cover anything, etc.
Anonymous2009-09-11T23:08:42Z
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Yes, lots of people, especially young healthy people, choose not to purchase health insurance so they can spend that money on other things. Shouldn't they have that choice? After all, it's their money.
You can afford what you choose to pay for. Maybe you need to look at what you're spending your money on and re-direct some of your discretionary spending to health insurance.
You could also look into getting a different job that offers health insurance as a fringe benefit.
Maybe you were born in California, but that doesn't mean you can't leave California. The economy in California sucks anyway (the fact that liberal socialists have run California to the verge of bankruptcy ought to be a warning to the rest of the country) -- getting a job in another state would lower your cost of living and then you could afford health insurance. You might even make more money because you wouldn't get taxed as much as in California.
Could afford and not being able to buy are 2 different things. Many could afford, but because of pre-existing conditions, they are being denied. This is a growing number. Another issue is the steep increase in premiums for small businesses and the changing terms by insurance companies that force many such small businesses or individuals out of the "affordability bracket" in future years. In 2000 alone, Aetna, through some of its policy change, purged out 8 million such policyholders for those accounts it considered might not be profitable. These risks could happen to anyone. The third issue is, as long as you are employed permanently with your current company that provide you with corporate medical insurance, you will be ok. But, in this day and age, will there be cradle to grave employment? Is your insurance portable, ie it will go wherever you go, after you change jobs? Or did the company cover you under group insurance? There again, when you change jobs, and depending on your age (let's say 45 and above), insurance companies may not want you or charge sky high premiums. You, too, may not be able to afford it.
The fallacy out there is that those who do not have are just lazy, not working or refuse to get an insurance coverage. Don't such people look at the exploits of the insurance companies, and as a critical mass demand that reform has to take place. Otherwise, if the public option could be relied upon to provide coverage for those under-privileged, as mentioned above, then let the public option grow to compete against for-profit-only behemoths that care more about bottomline than your health care.
Some of the answers on here astound me. Especially so from people who say "I don't know what insurance rates are, but I'm sure you could find plans that are affordable".
Dear one, the reality is that you have very few choices. At least not affordable ones. You take home what every two weeks...$800 at the most? Now if you factor in the cost of living (rent, food, car payment, fuel, etc)..which will vary dramatically depending on your location - how much do you have left over?
From 2000-2001 I paid $450 a month for an individual plan in the State of Washington (I was self-employed). I can't even imagine what it would cost now given how much premiums have gone up in the past 10 years. However, even if the rates haven't changed....can you afford another $400 or more monthly payment with what you make?
Most people don't realize how expensive insurance is when purchased independently of an employer. Too many take for granted that there are so many affordable options when there aren't.
A popular argument about the health care reform thing is that many of the 45 million Americans without insurance choose not to have insurance because they are young and healthy. To reflect this, Obama used an updated number in his most recent speech: instead of saying 45 million, he said 30 million, which is thought to be the number of people who cannot afford adequate insurance, excluding those who could but choose not to buy it.
I'm not real familiar with the pricing of insurance plans, but I know that there are a LOT of options out there. There is probably coverage you could afford; whether it's good coverage is another matter. I've heard about some good plans through Blue Cross, as well as good plans specifically for young adults. I'd recommend looking into those. Blue Cross, in particular, has something called the "plan of last resort," which is federally mandated to accept people regardless of their pre-existing health conditions. So if you have pre-existing conditions that make getting coverage hard, you might want to Google this plan.
Many of the uninsured are people ages 18-30 who think they are immortal and have no need for medical insurance. They actually choose not buy it. They instead buy material things such as cell phones and fancy cars (versus just a land line or just a reliable car). Many of the uninsured are illegal immigrants who suck this country dry and never contribute a dime towards this country. Some of the uninsured are people who actually make too much to qualify for medicaid, yet can't afford life insurance. These people are few in number compared to the rest. The latter are the people who actually need help. The government can leave the rest of us alone. It is the illegal immigrants and the people who choose not to work and receive handouts that bring this country down.