Health Insurance EV question

[phish]

[ QUOTE ]
Health insurance is only +EV for people who have something to lose. When you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.

If you're poor in the US and become sick or injured, you go to an emergency room and they are forced to treat you whether you have any money or not. You run up $5000 or $50,000 in medical bills, then you declare bankruptcy later on. This ruins your credit, but if you were poor, you didn't care about your credit anyway.

And it's not as if it's really a choice, if you're poor enough you couldn't afford medical insurance anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is really bad advice, if you're serious.

While it's true that emergency rooms have to treat and stabilize you, they do not have to make you well. For example, let's say you suffer an eye injury and go to the emergency room with no health insurance. They have to stop the bleeding and make sure that your condition is stable. But now let's say 2 months down the line, you need an operation or you'll lose the sight in that eye. Well, if you can't pay for it, you are plain out of luck. No one is obligated to pay for your surgery.

Also, even for routine medical procedures and visits, etc, being without insurance means you'll be charged from 2-10 times what someone with insurance gets charged (since the companies negotiate reduced rates for all procedures).

I'm a risk adverse person, but I would not feel comfortable without health insurance unless my bankroll was in the $10,000,000 range.

[Jacques]

First, this question is irrelevant when you are married or live with your girlfriend. Try explaining this is +EV not to take insurance.

One risk may be if you are hit by a car and the hospital treating you knows you don't have insurance and is afraid of not being paid. I would fear I wouldn't get the best treatment possible, I may be wrong here.

[gabyyyyy]

[ QUOTE ]
First, this question is irrelevant when you are married or live with your girlfriend. Try explaining this is +EV not to take insurance.

One risk may be if you are hit by a car and the hospital treating you knows you don't have insurance and is afraid of not being paid. I would fear I wouldn't get the best treatment possible, I may be wrong here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh please.. Yet again you idiots don't know what you are talking about. They will give you the same treatment regardless if you have insurance or not. They don't put a non-insured sticker on your chart, LOL

You can also get medicaid if you needed an operation that you could not afford.

[Jacques]

Reading how your post is written I hesitate to consider its content as undoubtedly reliable.

Here is a snippet from a study on health coverage:
"When they (the uninsured) are hospitalized, they are
more likely to receive fewer services and to die in the hospital than are insured patients." kkf.org

[Dennisa]

Getting hit by a car, is one of the only times you dont need health insurance as you are either covered by your Motor Vehical Insurance and the other Drivers insurance depending on the state you are residing in.

[moondogg]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh please.. Yet again you idiots don't know what you are talking about. They will give you the same treatment regardless if you have insurance or not. They don't put a non-insured sticker on your chart, LOL


[/ QUOTE ]

OK, here's a hypothetical:
You get hit by a car, you go to the emergency room, and they save your life, as they are required to do.

Once you're stabilized, the doctor comes in and tells you that the accident caused serious spinal injuries and you will have to go through extensive rehab in order to be able to walk again.

Do you think that the hospital or any rehab is going to provide this rehab service to you free of charge?

[grinin]

[ QUOTE ]
Getting hit by a car, is one of the only times you dont need health insurance as you are either covered by your Motor Vehical Insurance and the other Drivers insurance depending on the state you are residing in.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you ever stop to think that the other driver may be driving without insurance or that you may be involved in an accident with serious injuries and everyone only took the minimal amount of insurance (10K in mystate)? As I said in a previous post 10K of medical bills is nothing for a serious accident.

[grinin]

I don't think you will convice Gabby.

He is convinced that the majority of 2+2er's are living near the poverty level, and of course insurance is simply for those dumb rich folk who don't realize that they could get the same services for free if God decides to send a lightnin' bolt outta da blue onto your ass ( I mean really what are da odds of sumthin happening to me? gotta be 1 in a thousand (dat is the same almost as 1 in a million ya know?)) Now it might take a few months to get medicaid coverage and they might not cover the same stuff as private insurance (but it is medicaid you know. I have heard good things about them, besides if they don't cover it, I must not need it anyway, right?)

[phish]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
First, this question is irrelevant when you are married or live with your girlfriend. Try explaining this is +EV not to take insurance.

One risk may be if you are hit by a car and the hospital treating you knows you don't have insurance and is afraid of not being paid. I would fear I wouldn't get the best treatment possible, I may be wrong here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh please.. Yet again you idiots don't know what you are talking about. They will give you the same treatment regardless if you have insurance or not. They don't put a non-insured sticker on your chart, LOL

You can also get medicaid if you needed an operation that you could not afford.

[/ QUOTE ]

Boy, are you living in a fool's paradise.

[Poker Cat]

Most insurance is a scam.

It benefits from the unproven folk wisdom that "you HAVE to have it". It's nice to have a comprehensive plan that covers everything. As long as someone else is paying the premiums.

Otherwise, get an inexpensive catastrophic coverage policy with a $2 million limit. No prescriptions, no doctor visits, $5000 deductible. Then pay cash for everything. Standard discounts are 20%-%50 just for the asking. Shop around. Tell your doctor you are uninsured. My doctor saves all his valuable samples for uninsured patients. If your doctor won't do this, find another. Last year, I needed a CAT scan for my arm. The doc said it would cost at least $1000. I found a clinic specialized, got the scan, radiologist review and report for about $200.

Better yet, pay all your bills with credit cards and get miles (plus your discount, of course).

Buy your drugs online or at Costco.
If you end up in an ambulance or hospital, if you are lucid scan the form they want you to sign. Cross out arbitration clauses and anything else onerous -- they probably won't even notice. When you get the bill, review it with a billing administrator and question every single line. Demand that they remove anything they can't clearly justify medically. (I was charged $200 for salt water. They removed it.) If you find yourself needing an expensive operation, consider Canada or Thailand. Bumrumgrad Hospital is world class at a fraction of US cost. Combine it with a vacation and write off the travel cost as a medical expense.

Health care is really no different from other expenses.
You can pay list price and get nothing, or with a little legwork get real value at a fraction of what "everybody" pays.