According to the latest "released" Health Care bill, why can't I choose to have no coverage?

Favorite Answer

Because, then, if you are ill, you will place an unfair burden on others.

And you will stop the system from working.

FACT - Insurance companies in the USA admit to pushing up prices, buying politicians and not paying out claims when they should [1]
FACT - PER PERSON the USA spends more on healthcare than any other nation on the planet [2]
FACT - Obama debated his plans before the election for healthcare [3]
FACT - the chance of a child under five of dying in the USA is greater than industrialised nations with universal health coverage [4]
FACT - Obama was elected by the American people to bring in change [5]
FACT - Obama wants to stop insurance companies from screwing American [6]
FACT - The reforms Obama wants work in the Netherlands and Switzerland [7]

Let me know if my facts are wrong, but please provide proof....Show more

Well, to start off I would like to know the source of your information. The health care bill has gone through many rewritings and your information could be from an older version.

Also, I think it's actually a provision to start keeping medicaid and medicare costs down. People who do not have health insurance are still treated by hospitals and doctors and if they do not have insurance or the money to pay for it, government assistance programs step in and cover the costs to keep the medical community happy. By making it a law to have health insurance or you're assessed a penalty, then the insurance will cover the costs and medicare and medicaid have their costs reduced and you pay in the end for your health care anyways.

Another thing not often discussed is if you have insurance at the time of the start date, your coverage isn't affected. It's covered also under section 202, page 91.

Last, you say you have put aside portions of your income in case of health issues and you keep 1.5 times your yearly salary set aside in case of catastrophic health issues. So you are in effect, denying yourself your own income in case of health problems. Basically I'm not sure what your complaint is. You're arguing that if you have to get health insurance that you won't have some of your income, however you don't have that income anyways because you deny it yourself. So for you, nothing will actually change if you are required to purchase health insurance and more tax money will go to things other than medicaid or medicare.

I would highly advise checking out the bottom two links to answer any more questions....Show more

Americans should not be forced to pay an insurance company money for something they neither want nor need. Such a provision, if it does pass in the final bill, would be draconian, and I hope that it would cause people to go to the polls in record numbers to vote out those forcing that on them.

But, as you can see from some of the answers here, there are people with health insurance who want people like you to subsidize theirs. They don't care if you will never use the health care, regardless of whether you stay healthy, use alternative means, or know basic self care.

If you are forced to buy health insurance, it will not cover catastrophic risks anyway. Health insurance companies just don't like to do that. Self insurance like you are doing is much more effective. That money won't be squandered away on insurance for all the little run to the doctor stuff people who have health insurance paid by an employer are used to....Show more

While you "say" you're self-insuring and I'd like to think you and others would be honest about your intentions...others would have second thoughts when handed a 20K bill for that ruptured appendix. You'd have to actually put a chunk of money in escrow or something. Too complicated. You know, I hate paying for the US Military, I find their weapons of war and their deployment to the middle east to be an abomination, but I have to pay for it, the preservation of the US is paramount and the beast must defend itself from agressors whether I like it or not....Show more

Because you not having health insurance greatly increases the likelihood that you will default on health insurance bills, which increases the bills of everyone else. It's the same idea as required auto insurance....Show more