Does the current health insurance system keep you from doing something you would otherwise do?
Posted at 6:00 AM on October 15, 2009
by Eric Ringham
(25 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Health
The difficulty of finding affordable health coverage may be keeping people in jobs or marriages they would like to leave. It may also inhibit potential entrepreneurs from striking out to start businesses of their own. Does the current health insurance system keep you from doing something you would otherwise do?
Comments (25)
Yes. It keeps me from getting insurance. I am a healthy person who has a record of RARELY visiting a doctor and always taking good care of my health. But, when I lost my job I lost my insurance. Now I cannot afford pay the monthly private premium even for a low premium high deductible plan that ONLY offers catastrophic coverage. And that is all I want... something to cover me in case, God-forbid, something big and bad happens to me.
But I cannot even afford that. I'm kind of thankful that I don't have (and don't plan on having) kids and that I can't legally marry (I'm gay) so if something does happen no one else will get stuck with my debt when I die.
Wow, that insurance thing is exactly one reason I keep my day job. The other thing holding me back is all financial concerns with the taxes that small business owners are faced with all the time. It's crazy. I fear that I'd have to make about 3 times as much as I make at my dayjob with freelance to actually quit my dayjob and live with about that same amount of $$$ I'd make there... while doing freelance.
However, now, I do work the full-time day job, make ok $, do freelance, make additional $ and we live how we like to. We don't think about going out to dinner or buying the "good beer" or whatever. If my wife wants new jeans, so be it. If I quit my dayjob, we'd have a lot more stresses, and we both don't want that. But yeah, I'd also like to quit my dayjob.
We kept the COBRA when my husband was laid off. It almost left us unable to purchase food or pay the electric or gas bill. To cover us and his son from a previous marriage cost more than half our monthly income.
When COBRA ran out, we applied for private coverage, and almost didn't get it. He has a pre-existing condition. We still pay as much for our private insurance, maybe more, than when we were paying for COBRA and our benefits are terrible. The deductibles and co-pays are so high that once we pay for the insurance, we still can't afford to go see a doctor, there's no money left to pay that bill.
We need a public option. If the final passed bill mandates insurance, the first thing I will do is drop what I have, go to the doctor and be faced with a fine for not having insurance. I won't pay the fine and they can throw me in jail for it -- then completely cover my food, housing and medical at taxpayer expense.
Anyone who says they do not want the public option because they don't want the government getting involved in their health care is admitting they do not trust the government. Anyone who feels that subsidized mandated medical insurance is somehow better than a public option because of the cost is a dimwit -- SUBSIDIZED means the government pays, using taxpayer money, part of the bill.
Maybe national health is not the answer, but there is no reasonable argument against a public OPTION. Insurance companies say they wouldn't be able to compete against such an option -- yes they could, they just have to provide better service at lower prices and give up huge bonuses and golden parachutes that they now achieve by denying coverage and causing further unhealthiness and ultimately death.
More and more employers are reducing or dropping medical coverage as a benefit; more and more are severely cutting back coverage for their retirees. And an employer-based system keeps the people of this nation in a slave/serf situation. Of course, America is about business and its rights. It's not really about the people, their needs and wants. It's not about encouraging the expression of freedom through entrepreneurship. It's about keeping profits high for certain business interests.
Enough of my soapbox speech and back to the original question: yes, our current health insurance system does keep us from doing something we would do otherwise -- it keeps us (my husband and I) from being healthy!
My husband and I are actually in Colorado right now, but are trying to get back to Minnesota by next summer so he can attend pharmacy school in Duluth. We are 24 and would like to start our family. I have very good benefits through my current employer, but because we plan to be in Minnesota 9 months from now, and in light of the current economy and the difficulty of finding a job (especially one with benefits) we feel almost sure that if we were to get pregnant, I would end up having the baby without insurance coverage. We have looked at using a midwife and paying out of pocket, but the threat of unforeseen complications and the huge emergency medical bills that would result have us waiting until at least one of us is employed next year.
Cobra benefits for us run out in Jan.; pre-existing conditions are problematic in applying for next insurance. While it would be great to take advantage of the $700/mo. we've pd. for Cobra, we can't risk a new "pre-existing condition" if one is found, very likely for adults in their early 50's. So, once again, defer regular medical check-ups, 'cuz you can't afford to deal with the consequences of a bad check-up. We need a better system.
It took 25 years for me to attain some financial security so I could start my small business. I buy my own health insurance, but can't yet afford it for employees. Lack of national health insurance stifles small business, the main driver of the economy.
I don't understand the comments complaining about losing health insurance when leaving a job. Of course your current employer wants to keep you and they offer health insurance as a benefit.
Individual health insurance is available. It is more expensive as it is not subsidized by an employer. It can be very expensive if you are in a high risk group.
To the question, I find it ridiculous that insurance will cover consulting a specialist without a referral from a general practicioner. Now I need to see two doctors. The first trip is useless except to provide acces to the doctor I really need to see. If my foot hurts, I should be able to visit a podiatrist.
Getting a second opinion on a problem.
Current situation:
have a problem;
dr. says she's clueless about what causes it (that's okay, sometimes that really is the answer)
do tests
pay lots and lots of money
dr. says she's clueless about what causes it.
now what?
How do I get a second opinion, if it means shelling out the money all over again? Or paying for more tests that turn out to be not-useful.
This isn't quality-of-life stuff: this is a serious health problem that has serious potential to prevent me from keeping my driver's license and severely narrow my job prospects.
now what? --> I spend each day hoping that the problem doesn't re-occur. What a great health care plan that is, eh?
Today's Question brings into focus something I perceive to be a genuine debilitating problem in the US. My husband and I have a part time small business that is doing great and is poised to blossom into something much bigger. There's a strong market demand we want to address but I'm keeping my full time job with good benefits.
We're in our early 50s and he just had an emergency appendectomy. Without the insurance from my job, we'd be bankrupt from that one surgery. If there was universal health care, we could risk expanding our business and employing several other people.
I see here we are not alone and realize this common problem is shackling the entreprenurial spirit that once fueled this country's growth. How many innovative ideas have been thwarted in the US due to the health care crisis? How much damage has it done? And yet our legislators are working right now on compromise rather than solution. They are to the point where they just want to come up with something that will get enough votes to pass. It doesn't matter whether the bill will actually solve this or any other problem associated with health care in our country and that is shameful, plain and simple.
Here, we see the voice of the people but our representatives are not listening. Pitiful. The supposed leaders of the free world can't even figure out how to take care of our own and support small business development that creates the jobs we so need.
A bit of a different response---we would start a family! We have been married for five years. He is an adjunct professors at prestigious (and expensive!) private college that does not offer health benefits to part-time faculty. I am self-employed. With a public option, we would have access to health coverage that we otherwise cannot afford individually. We have insurance that covers emergencies, but does NOT include maternity. The current system stinks and we can't wait forever!
YES! I can't change jobs and pursue my passion, yet I am unhappy with my boring desk job. Although I am 29 years old and healthy, there is always the "what if" factor lurking that prevents me from getting a job that doesn't offer benefits. Are we all just working for health insurance these days? No wonder we're an unhappy and unhealthy nation.
Yes...That would be going to the doctor.
I'm so glad this is finally getting asked, and I wish more people would seriously think about this question.
For me, this is absolutely the case. This has kept me in a stagnant job and kept me from attempting an entrepreneurial endeavor.
When starting a new job, there's usually a 3-5 month period where you are not offered health coverage while the employer evaluates you to determine if you're a good fit for the company. Sure, you might have cobra coverage from your previous job, but if you've ever had to pay that, you know that it'll eat up your savings really quick. Cobra getting all your money, or not taking it and risking bankruptcy due to catastrophic injury or illness isn't much of choice. Best to stay in a less than optimal job that at least pays part of the insurance bill.
I've had my own business too, and the most stressful part was trying to get insurance for myself and my business partners. We ended up not getting any at all; lucky for us there wasn't a health emergency before the business failed.
I've thought about attempting another entrepreneurial effort, but there's simply no affordable option for healthcare, and I won't go without it at this point in my life. So, it has definitely discouraged me from going into business again.
A friend of mine recently had a relatively routine surgical procedure for a sudden illness. One night in a hospital, surgery, follow-up visit. Bill would have been $24,000+ out of pocket without insurance.
Not worth the bankruptcy risk in my opinion.
Of course it does. Why do you think the US has evolved into an employer based system?
The current health insurance systems keeps me from doing a very important thing: going to the doctor.
I have an individual insurance plan and I have heard the stories of rescission for items left off of the application. I was as thorough as I could be on my application, but I very well might have left something off.
So if I were to get a diagnosis that one of my moles was skin cancer, I'd rather not know if the option is that my insurance is taken away. I keep the insurance only because gaps in coverage make it very difficult to get insurance again.
I'll use my insurance to see a doctor when preexisting conditions are no longer an issue.
Although I qualified for full retirement benefits last December, I plan to continue working until at least next year when I turn 65 so I can qualify for full medicare benefits.
I'm also wondering if I can afford to retire at all because I worry about losing the excellent insurance benefits I have where I work.
Yup! I would start my own business and employ myself and possibly my wife. But I can't, because the cost of health care for us and our 16-month old baby would end up bankrupting me almost immediately. And the Republicans are supposedly "pro-small business"? What a joke!
As someone with a chronic illness I would be unable to get insurance in the private market. Therefore, I have to work for an employer that offers group-based health insurance. In the "Land of the Free", an employer-based health insurance system is restraining many of us.
I would like to start my own business but losing my health insurance prevents me from doing this. We would be financily ruined due to health care costs and pre-existing conditions.
Yes.. it keeps me from having health insurance. I simply can't afford it.... and our current governor seems to think that is fine.
I have been WAITING for the media to really discuss this question! THANK YOU. I think the whole economy is kept from growth because it is MADE sluggish by our messed up healthcare problems. My list is pretty long, I would grow my small business and not look for work. I would hire a retired person who is still 3 years from Medicar to work part-time to help me. A friend would leave his low paying job with healthcare to start a small business and spend more time caring for elderly parents. Another friend would move to rural Minnesota and revive a local retail business, another would start an internet cafe in a place with no public access to the Internet. All of this non-activity is happening in the whole country. I think there would be an burst of creative growth if we set all these people free.
Yes. It keeps me from being as proud of my country as I'd like to be. We have a system that abandons people in their time of depest need. I'm fortunate to have coverage through my work, and I like my job, but I have friends who are kept in economic servitude by employer-based health care. One of my friends would lose the coverage for the cancer threatments she's receiving if the cancer forces her to quit her job. America can do better than this.
YES! Friends and I were talking about this very question last weekend. We thought many were strapped to jobs they otherwise didn't like for the health care benefits only. We felt that there would be a rise of creativity in how we could make a living. Also wondered if our general health would improve if we were able to do something more fulfilling with our work lives and in turn benefit the community.
Fortunately my wife (a German citizen) and I are both employed with health benefits for us and our 2 children. If we were to lose our jobs and health coverage, we would probably move to Germany were my entire family would be insured upon arriving in the country because Germany has decided to take care of their citizens (and their foriegn spouses).
To a certain extent, yes. There have been times when my wife or I wanted to pursue a new job opportunity, only to realize that we'd be without medical coverage for a month or more. I spent two years in college, and in that time, my wife was "locked in" to her job, and again when I was laid off last year.
| October 2009 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Master Archive
Recent Entries
- How have your views on nuclear power changed over the years?
- Where do you stand on requiring Minnesotans to produce a photo ID to vote?
- Now that the caucuses are over, what are your three most important issues?
- What living writer might still be read 200 years from now?
- What do you think of Minnesota's system of party caucuses?
- How do you think the United States and other countries should respond to the situation in Syria?
- What do you think of constitutional amendments as a way to make policy?
- What changes would you like to see in campaign finance laws?
- What role should evaluations play in teacher job security?
- If you were energy czar, how would you change U.S. energy policy?
Public Insight Network
The Public Insight Network draws upon your experiences to help shape our coverage.More
Categories
Services
In The Spotlight
-
Sound Learning
Looking for ways to ensure your students are doing quality research from credible sources? Sound Learning is a launching point to Minnesota Public Radio's content on the Web. -
The Current Music Blog
Your daily note for good music, news and pop culture. With attempted jokes.
- Become a Member
- Member Connect Accounts
- Leadership Circle
- Sustaining Members
- Member Discounts
- Become a Sponsor
- Tax Information
- Planned Giving
- Vehicle Donation
- Donate Stock
