Is health insurance unaffordable?

[JHoward]

Q: How much of the problem of affordability is caused by our expectations of what health care one should receive? By this I mean that the average person tends to assume that "healthcare" is a constant, fixed level of care, such as "whatever it takes until you get well or die, whichever comes first."

Can a person get health insurance with low per-illness or per-year or per-lifetime maximums to keep costs down? Or insurance that will not pay for "extreme measures" taken to keep you alive? Or would this not help the insurance company? What is costing more? Routine health care and long-term use maintenance drugs or is it the serious illnesses, surgeries and itensive care that are using up the majority of the insurance dollars?

Would making sure that everyone had affordable access to at least preventative healthcare (and obviously encourage them to use it) reduce the overall costs to the healthcare system and ultimately to the insurors?

 

[johnrocks]

Sure there are plenty of ways to lower your insurance costs just like in homeowner's and auto, you raise your deductible and you try to craft a plan to handle the things that you can't afford such as the "dread diseases" and the million dollar injuries and things like that. people today seem more fixated on rx caps and doctor's visits than they are on the other more important things.

yes the things that people do such as preventable healthcare is far less expensive than surgeries but it has to come down to personal responsibility or less just give up all our rights and go "Big Brother" all the way.

 

[donaldgkimball]

American friends respectfully seem overly cautious

Respectfully stated here but it seems my American friends seem overly suspicious of being controlled by the USA government in areas such as healthcare. As a Canadian living here in the USA I always find it a bit puzzling. Frankly I loved the luxury of having "big brother" government Canada offer me and my family free medical care. When Dad was in the hospital for literally many many weeks with an anuerism I knew that none of us had to worry. He got better and went home. No one ever thought about it as far as him being an older guy and unemployed. We sure were greatful. This brings up another point. Canadians are certainly not any more noble than Americans in my opinon however I am beginning to wonder if they hold more of a pioneer mindset such as "I am not going to seek medical attention until I am darn good and sick". If that is the case then there might be a lower useage overall comparatively.

I respectfully suggest that I still am not convinced a plan similar to the UK, Australia, Canada etc would work in this country but I do tend to be a bit puzzled by the vehement resistance I detect among my friends.

Cheers!

Don

 

[johnrocks]

again who pays the cost Don someone has to. A higher tax base to pay this on top of everything else. besides it's people's livlihoods at stake here.

 

[J.R.]

Respectfully stated here but it seems my American friends seem overly suspicious of being controlled by the USA government in areas such as healthcare.

No true American likes being told what to do, it goes against what we stand for and how our country was founded. There is a fine line between recommended guidelines versus Big Brother's warm embrace. I strongly believe that the government should protect it's citizens because we do a very good job at it, however, that does not correlate to health care and saying, "ok, everybody gets the same treatment." John and a few others have talked about helping the people who are born with serious medical issues and I fully support the idea. I believe everything starts with education.

What we have lost in this country in the last 10 or so years are the key words "Access" and "accountability." Make sure everybody has access to benefits and is accountable for their actions.

I respectfully suggest that I still am not convinced a plan similar to the UK, Australia, Canada etc would work in this country but I do tend to be a bit puzzled by the vehement resistance I detect among my friends.

What precisely are you resistant to exactly???? This is the jist of it, at any time, you will have what appears to be 2/3's of the population bitching about something. At least that is what the news says according to their mysterious mathematicians, and the Gallop Poll, which is basically like Vegas on coke and afflicted with paranoia......

If you recall, a few years ago President Bush raised the benefits for people affected by the 9/11 attacks, as well as military members who died in combat. Some viewed it as a way to silence people by paying more money, while others, like myself, viewed it as a way to look after our military members adn government civilians who risk their lives. What happened next? Some of the spouses, relatives etc. of the Oklahoma Bombings thought that they were entitled to receive more money because of Timothy Oi Ve. I am getting off on a rant here, but the way our society works as a whole can be linked market psychology. In another words, one cattle leading another until something else changes the direction.

 

[phil23]

It is expensive especially when you seldom get sick. Right?

 

[Mj19840]

No. Every quote I get is higher then the last one.