More high-income Americans go without health insurance

USA Today ^ | 11/22/02 | Julie Appleby

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Leanne Ely is a radio talk-show host in Southern California. Jay Belle is four years into running his own business in Memphis. Jeanie Whiting is an author and farmer in Washington. All three have household incomes of more than $75,000.

And none of the three has health insurance.

[lentulusgracchus]

....but why should I buy health insurance now when I know the government is about to start stealing money from young workers to give it to me for nothing?

Because, knowing Hillary, she'd try to do something cute to contain costs (i.e. push them to the insurance carriers) by "redlining" "pre-existing conditions" and putting those costs to the old carrier under some sort of transitional-period gobbledygook of the sort you'd expect from America's smartest woman lawyer.

[lentulusgracchus]

Oh, and she'd probably try to get us to pay for it, too, with "premiums" (taxes) disguised as your "contributory portion".....means-tested, of course, which is Ratspeak for "we'll carry our constituents as much as possible and shove the costs to the productive people -- they're all Republicans anyway".

[Jim Noble]

I'm actually quite well-insured.

However, the wealthy are among the most notorious non-payers for health care services. The widespread folk belief that you shouldn't have to pay for this service is not confined to the poor, or to RATs (just read these threads on FR!).

The poor, however, are not used to getting what they want, and so a few shekels can usually be squeezed out of them.

The very wealthy who are uninsured just don't pay, and they have reasonable lines of defense to keep hospitals' feeble (and doctors even more feeble) collection efforts at bay.

[Mamzelle]

re: I'm actually quite well-insured.)))

Ya think? You might be surprised at what that means. You might be well-insured, but will the insurance company pay the claims of someone who's being billed to cover all the uncompensated care, or will they fight tooth and nail to avoid paying? You never know until you make a claim after paying years of premiums. I'm watching a lot of folks learn this the hard way.

It's easy to blame the insurance companies, but the ones we have are all that's left.

[Jim Noble]

I agree that the insurance you think you have is not necessarily really there.

The flip side of my post to you on the other thread-people figuring out that they don't have to pay the bills-is that the insurance companies are figuring out that they don't have to pay the claims, either.

In both cases, this reflects deeply-held public beliefs that health care services should be free.

Your mommy didn't charge you for milk and cookies when you came home from school, did she?

Your daddy didn't make you file a claim when he put a band-aid on your boo-boo, did he?

So by what right should a heart surgeon or a hospital be sending you a bill?

[Glenn]

The whole concept of insurance with low deductibles, covering things that you can afford to pay for when they happen, is silly in general.

I pay an extra premium for low co-pays through my employer's group plan. It has paid off in spades to have taken advantage of it. You roll the dice and take your chances, eh? For the next guy it might have been a losing proposition.

[Do Be]

. . . they have reasonable lines of defense to keep hospitals' feeble (and doctors even more feeble) collection efforts at bay.

Such as?

My insurance, for which I pay over $700 a month, refused to pay for some lab work I had done over a year ago. They are just now, after many phone calls and letters, admitting that they are responsible, and will pay. In the meantime, this is being reflected on my credit report as an unpaid collection.

[Do Be]

Would you mind sharing who you have this coverage through?

[dinodino]

I know! That "free rider" statement really rankled me.

[Mannaggia l'America]

My husband's employer pays for his health insurance (BCBS traditional) and we have to pay for the coverage of myself and our two daughters. It currently costs us $420 a month and we were just notified the other day that BCBS is raising it's premiums another 25%.

We had BC/BS and the company paid for everything, but as you found, they kept raising rates so eventually the company only covered the employee and part of the dependent cost.

Some of the increases are because health care costs are rising, but there was an article last year in the Philly Inquirer (here) that showed that BC/BS is raising premiums but stashing away large parts of it into cash surpluses, not using it for costs. While it is good to have a cash surplus, theirs seems a little excessive ($3 billion as of last year).

[Lazamataz]

A. In 10 years, these people haven't gotten insurance ?..or
B. The figures are the same, the names change ?...or
C. It's a made-up figure?

B.

I was recently w/o insurance for the first time in years. It was brief, but it happened.

[FITZ]

A collapse of medical insurance, in its entirety, is inevitable

In this region, only 32% of the population now bothers with health insurance, 34% are on Medicaid or Medicare and 34% have no insurance but expect and get their health care at no charge to them. Insured people are paying for all their own health care plus the health care of those who choose not to pay anything in.

[FITZ]

Look at JFK. He had all the "doctoring" his fame and money could buy.

Like Elvis. He had a lot of doctors and a lot of medical care.

[Jim Noble]

In this region, only 32% of the population now bothers with health insurance, 34% are on Medicaid or Medicare and 34% have no insurance but expect and get their health care at no charge to them. Insured people are paying for all their own health care plus the health care of those who choose not to pay anything in.

The People are socializing medicine all on their own!