a.
I am a healthy middle-aged woman. My health care costs me approximately
$1000/year. I pay $4800 in insurance
premiums, I have a high deductible, so I get nothing out of it.
b.
That $4800 goes to take care folks with cancer,
folks who had car accidents, type I diabetics who need kidney transplants, etc.
c.
I pay that $4800 in case I ever get cancer, have
a car accident, etc.
d.
If folks like me opt out, there’s not enough
money to take care of the sick folks.
2.
I have a Health Savings Account (HSA):
a.
I was able to fully fund it for the past two
years so it has the full amount of my deductible in it.
b.
However, if I were to be hit by a car in
November, it is likely I would be looking at paying my deductible twice, at the
same time my income would bottom out.
c.
If I can hold off getting hit by a car for the
next decade I may have saved enough to fund two deductibles, pay my premiums
and replace my income during my recovery.
d.
All this is null and void if I get something
like Parkinson’s which robs me of my ability to work for the rest of my
life. And even if I get disability,
Medicare doesn’t kick in for 2 years.
3.
Public Option: I have come to the conclusion
that a public option is required for several reasons:
a.
Competition: As a true non-profit the public
option will be the lowest cost in every market, which will require the
for-profit industry to be “better” in some way to get people to pay for it. I have no doubt they can do it.
b.
Areas of the country without enough population
to sustain commercial programs.
4.
Minimum Essential Coverage:
a.
Before the ACA insurance companies could offer
anything they wanted, and call it health insurance.
b.
The problem with à la carte insurance, is that it
functions more like “pre-paid” health care.
There may be edits to this.
