Discussion»Questions»Health and Wellness» Can you live without health insurance? Did having health insurance save your life or the life of someone you know? How so?
I dont have health insurance.. I'd like it as i believe it can save lives... However, in saying that I realise my answer is probably not helpful as the situation here is very different. I shall read other answers with interest.
I hope you're healthy my friend and young. At age 70 I got stage 3 cancer. Without the Kaiser Health Insurance supplement and Medicare I would be dead. I'm 79 now and still cancer-free but there is always chance it will come back. Without health insurance we would have been wiped out financially and I would still be dead. If life is of value then having health insurance is of value. Thank you for your reply DdbTD! :)
I do appreciate that the situation is very different there.. but here in the UK everyone has, free healthcare. SO I wasn't being cheeky.. just saying we don't usually have health insurance here. I would *like* it as the NHS isn't perfect and waiting lists etc can mean that you are better off if you have health insurance..
@DdTD -- Are you not a resident of the UK, where all citizens qualify for the National Health Service?
The major debate in the USA is because our recent health care reforms (commonly called "Obamacare") REQUIRE people to obtain health insurance, or pay a tax penalty roughly equal to the cost of coverage. Many feel the mandate is unfair, although they don't seem to recognize such a provision is necessary to avoid the "free rider" problem (i.e. people who don't pay for health insurance, but demand treatment when they ultimately become sick or injured).
Yes I am in the UK where everyone has free healthcare.. it saves many lives... it's a good thing.. but.... there are many pressures on the NHS, too many and too complex to go into and this can mean that treatment, especially speed of treatment is less than ideal.. overworked nurses, overcrowded hospitals etc... If you have private health insurance you get treated way, way, way better.
@DdTD -- Those issues with the British NHS are often cited as arguments why a similar system should not be implemented in the USA. However, what most people seem to misunderstand is the UK pays about HALF per-capita on its health care compared to the USA. I suspect the NHS would improve dramatically if its budget was doubled....;-D...
Absolutely... and I'd much rather see that happen.. we all pay more.. Tho in fairness we do, allegedly pay high taxes here already.. but for the most part we don't begrudge paying it as it's for ALL our good.. Re the NHS.. there are issues to do with inefficiencies, drug companies being greedy, erm immigrants, (I've nothing at all against anyone just the sheer numbers create extra pressures) managers taking more than their fair share.. etc etc etc.. But even within the context that what we have can be a bit variable. for the most part the NHS DO do a good job.
But you must compare apples to apples. The US government programs do not pay like the insurance companies do....so if we go with single payer here the per capita rate would be similar to the UK.
My mother recently fell and broke her right femoral head (the top of the thigh bone where it enters the hip. It's the most common kind of "broken hip").
The cost of her surgeries and rehabilitation was on the order of $200,000 (not including the monetary value of the time me and my siblings spent helping her rehabilitate).
Prior to modern hip surgery techniques, people with such injuries typically died within a year because they could no longer walk, and being bedridden invites all sorts of other maladies (bed sores, pneumonia, etc.).
So, yes, I would say health insurance (Medicare administered by Kaiser Northern California) saved my mother's life.
((hugs)) Thank goodness my friend! Losing a parent is no small thing. Mahalo for sharing your story with us. Personal experience always warms my heart. Mahalo for your reply OS! :)
I had a heart attack 12 years ago. ERs can't turn down anyone so I had the surgery. I had good insurance and they paid all but $2,000. Had I not had the insurance I would have been paying it off for the rest of my life. So yes you can get health care without insurance to save your life if you can pay for it.
ive never really had health insurance and ive had 5 surgeries without it too, so not having it dont stop me from doing what i have to do, i had gallstone surgery with the hill burton program in upstate ny, then i had 3 other surgeries, one was a hysterectomy, and two were hip implants, the colorado indigent care program helped with that one. and by the time i had my knee surgery i had lost that job so medicaid picked up the tab on that one
I have lived without it for about 16 yrs. I had insurance for about 1 yr 1/2 paying $500/month family plan. It covered nothing... because we never met the deductible. And when we had some things done they were not able to work with us because of the insurance. So no private cash payment discount. Thats when we cancelled it. Before that I had insurance through a employer which was excellent insurance with a low deductible.
Benedict Arnold 