> You just proved it was job loss. There's a big difference between job loss due to medical reasons and eventually ending in bankruptcy...and just losing a job.
> Are you saying you want your medical insurance to also pay your > person > bills while you're sick? Of course not...the point is that most people simply cannot afford to get sick and handle *those* costs on top of personal bills. > I'm talking about insurance risk. If they know your meds are > guaranteed to be $300 a month plus and mine are zero I should pay > less. Why? Should you pay less in taxes for your fire or police service if you haven't been robbed or had a fire versus someone that has? Again, there seems to be some blame being put on people here for medical problems, and the vast majority of people have no such control that you seem to be implying. > Not at all, just like people that often crash their car can have > insurance but they have to pay more. Again, there is a lot more control over how often you crash your car versus what kind of medical assistance you might need. > My dad gave up his construction business to become a janitor so he'd > get a pension and medical insurance. We have choices. Sorry, but it's not so easy for many people. Insurance costs even for the insured continue to rise, having a job is no guarantee of financial safety (again, refer to that article link I posted). I remember when I could get a job and have good coverage at no cost (being single). Those types of jobs are few and far between these days. > If you can't afford it look for other alternatives like working for a > larger company that can provide insurance or join a group somehow. Luckily I can afford it for now, but this sentiment is exactly why small businesses are having such a hard time these days (among other reasons) and very few people able to be self-employed and truly be safe from bankruptcy. You can be denied individual insurance for pretty much anything and if you do get it, the cost is quite substantial. But the biggest problem is that it's such a huge risk. I really do worry about what is going to happen if anything really serious happens. It could wipe out my life savings, if not worse. It's the main reason I do still do a lot of preventative, diagnostic stuff every year or two, since my reflux does put me at high risk of some types of cancer. > There are ways to get coverage but you just want someone else to help > you pay. That's what groups are for not the government. Wrong, it has nothing to do with making someone else pay. If I felt confident that what I paid now would protect me in the case of serious illness, I'd be satisfied. It's a lot, but it's still not such a huge part of my income that I couldn't deal with it. The problem is the cost goes up every year, and in the case of something serious happening, the coverage quite simply is not sufficient. > > We're talking about two people making the same wage and one needs $300 a > month worth of meds and the other needs nothing. You want my bill to > be higher so yours is lower. Again, you're not getting the picture here. The costs of meds is a totally different issue, it ticks me off that I have to pay so much when people in other countries get the same meds for a reasonable price, not that I think someone else needs to pay for them. But it also frustrates me that people on company plans get decent prescription plans, the same should be available to everyone. Why should company plans have decent prescription plans and individuals not be allowed the same benefit? The same way that I should be able to deduct fully my health insurance premiums before tax the way that corporations can (it gets included when you calculate self-employed tax.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:253945 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
