Re: Talk of insurance mandate growing Originally Posted by FairyCari 
So, gee, there's a big decision for me: pay close to $5000 a year for insurance that does nothing, when I am a young, healthy woman who has no plans of having children, does not take any medications, and hasn't been to a doctor for anything other than a routine physical in over 5 years - OR - pay a $200 fine to the state. Guess which one I choose!
THIS same woman, ...years later..... will then go on to Bit%$ later about how expensive insurance is, especially after she SUDDENLY has a severe illness or major health issue.
I see a lot of people do this.." I am healthy, I do not need coverage." YES, you do. Buy it when you are healthy, and then IF anything happens you are covered.
I think that more people NEED to consider health insurance, and health costs, when deciding how many children to have..etc..
I would not have 3 kids if I could really only afford to insure ONE.. But that is ME, I tend to think logically.. I only buy and own what I can afford without debt.
Me too. My son was born in 2000. His individual policy was 52.52 a month from BCBS. Today, BCBS has done exactly what another poster has described. Each year, they write me a letter telling me the premiums are going up and asking me if I would prefer one of the less expensive policies with a higher deductible. This year, they put the premium up to over $200.00 a month for his PPO.
I guess you must be better at predicting things because I never anticipated the costs quadrupling on me over 9 years especially since he is healthy. I added a daughter to our family and the cost is almost $400 a month.
The letter I recieve each year tells me that "due to escalating costs of care we are forced to increase your premiums..."
This is nonsense. BCBS of Georgia is owned by Wellpoint, a company that routinely posts profits upwards of 3-4 billion dollars a year. When the middle man has an obligation to its shareholders, the costs of insurance will never reflect the costs of care or the the needs of the insured. Plain and simple.
Here is some nice math from a logical thinker:
The last job I had offered insurance to me but not my kids. When I added the medicare tax and my health insurance costs up, it totaled 23% of my paycheck. In Germany, the tax for universal healthcare is 17% and it would have covered me and my kids without the 5k worth of deductibles per person per year.
I am sorry but when you ask me if I want a health insurance company deciding what kind of care I get or the government deciding what kind of care I get, I have to answer that its cheaper and easier for me to be one of a mass of people who can VOTE to shape the healthcare policy in this country instead of an individual insured through a private company.
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