When we need an oil change on our cars, we pay the $20 or so for somebody to do it or we do it ourselves. Same with tires, tune-ups and brake jobs.
We don't expect our car insurance to pay for those things.
But when we get into a major accident and our car needs major work or replacement, that's when the insurance kicks in. This is why we get car insurance!
Because those situations are relatively far and few between, our car insurance payments are somewhat reasonable.
With medical insurance, the worst thing they ever did was HMO's, where you get just a $10 or so co-payment for every doctor visit. So what that means is for every stubbed toe, backache, sniffle or sneeze, people are flooding the doctor's offices. This drives our medical costs UP!
A few years ago, I switched to a plan where you pay the first $3,000 (per person) out of pocket and then are covered 100% afterwards. We opened an HRA where we could save the $3,000, in case we ever needed to use it.
What this did was keep my family from seeing the doctor for every little thing. But when my wife had cancer, after the first $3,000, which we already had saved up, she was covered 100% for everything. This was the equivalent of having your car totaled. But the rest of the family only went to doctor when it was absolutely necessary, which meant pretty much never, except for the annual physicals.
This is the formula for affordable health care. It's like having a large deductible on your car insurance. Your premiums are low and affordable. But when you really need it, you are covered 100% after the deductible. Which you can save for through HRA.
Hi, Sam. The most important thing is the health of your wife. I hope all is going well.
In addition, I completely agree with your analogy and how we should all purchase healthcare.
You nailed it. I’d like to see Medical savings more available. But we went Health Share and it’s similar. We pay the actual doctor’s worth for the visit, and we can doctor shop. We can lab shop! Amazing how a Beverly Hills office (rent) can increase the cost of a blood test!
Everyone with their HMOs just accepts ANY prices and pays their little copay, keeping prices insane. No one would do that with cars, accept a $100 car wash or $200 oil change. That happens every day with medical procedures.