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-Are they illegal residents?
-Are they young and forgo it for a new car?
^^^thats the majority of people without insurance^^^
-Are they unemployed?
-Are they underemployed?
-Are they sick and can't get covered?
These questions have to be answered to come up with a logical response to your question. Throwing out a question in a generalized format like that without paying a single ounce of attention to the details of the circumstnaces revolving around the issue is how bad policies get developed.
My wife could not get treatment for her gall stones as she no longer had cover in America ( Due to her company closing). She had them operated on in the UK, under the UHC. They had become necrotic and the specialist in the UK told her that if she had left them untreated much longer she would have died.
She is one of many who under the present USA system suffer and even die due to NO health cover.
My brother has no health insurance because his previous employer didnt offer a plan and now he is unemployed.
Due to previous health conditions, he cannot find a plan that he can afford. He would go broke and probably lose his house if he purchased a health plan.
^^^thats the majority of people without insurance^^^
.
A lot of my friends and I fell in this category toward the end of college or around graduation when our parents couldn't cover us anymore and it wasn't because we thought we were young and invincible (as so many people like to put it) we just couldn't afford the coverage. I was making $10 hourly, my rent was $500 a month, I had a light bill, cable/phone/internet bill, water bill, car insurance (my car was paid for) and I still had to eat.
Basic medical at my job then was like $80 a month, dental and vision were extra. It was only like $112 a month all together but at the time I just didn't have an extra $112 to give and I made too much money to qualify for Medicaid. I spent a couple of years in that too much for assistance but not enough to afford it grey area. So not ALL young people forgo insurance just so they can drive something shiny.
As far as the OP; I took advantage of the health department and the clinics who would work on a sliding pay scale. Luckily I didn't get sick often but whenever I did need medical attention I would just take my paycheck stubs and they'd tell me how much I had to pay. I also went to a lot of schools for my preventative care, like teeth cleanings and eye exams. they always had a teacher supervising so I felt pretty comfortable.
-Are they illegal residents?
-Are they young and forgo it for a new car?
^^^thats the majority of people without insurance^^^
do you have a source to back up that claim?
when i was younger, working full time, carless, and couldn't afford health insurance (i now have it through my work, completely paid for. i'm lucky. i still pay a lot of medical bills though.), i did a few different things. i avoided going to the doctor unless i absolutely had to. that (along with reduced availability of treatments that aren't profitable) is the fatal flaw in a for-profit healthcare system. when i had to go, i went to free clinics or paid my bills back very slowly on a payment plan.
luckily for me, i never had any major medical problems, or i'd still be paying those bills back. i know people who have debts in the tens of thousands for medical care because they got sick or hurt. one of them was a victim of a crime, but the state only paid half of his $100k bill.
i have another friend who went into the emergency room and stayed just long enough to find out that she didn't qualify for free care. she got a bill for $300 for that privilege.
A lot of my friends and I fell in this category toward the end of college or around graduation when our parents couldn't cover us anymore and it wasn't because we thought we were young and invincible (as so many people like to put it) we just couldn't afford the coverage. I was making $10 hourly, my rent was $500 a month, I had a light bill, cable/phone/internet bill, water bill, car insurance (my car was paid for) and I still had to eat.
Basic medical at my job then was like $80 a month, dental and vision were extra. It was only like $112 a month all together but at the time I just didn't have an extra $112 to give and I made too much money to qualify for Medicaid. I spent a couple of years in that too much for assistance but not enough to afford it grey area. So not ALL young people forgo insurance just so they can drive something shiny.
As far as the OP; I took advantage of the health department and the clinics who would work on a sliding pay scale. Luckily I didn't get sick often but whenever I did need medical attention I would just take my paycheck stubs and they'd tell me how much I had to pay. I also went to a lot of schools for my preventative care, like teeth cleanings and eye exams. they always had a teacher supervising so I felt pretty comfortable.
Did you have cable TV? Internet? Could you have found a place for cheaper than 500 bucks a month? Could you have gotten rid of the car and taken public transportation or bike it? Did you shop at Aldi or other types of cheap markets? Did you have a cell phone?
Don't get me wrong, I have been there. When I graduated college, I lived in a cheap apartment in a not so good area, had no cable or internet, got rid of my car, and shopped at aldi. I work a second job to make ends meet, but put the priority in my healthcare.
A very close friend - closer than friend, really - had a decent job here with health coverage. She was told by a GP that he was concerned about some signs of a particular kind of cancer, and that she should go to a specialist. She was worried that if she got a diagnosis of cancer, then she would be stuck in her job her in Idaho. She wanted to be with her family in another state if something bad like that occurred so they could take care of her kids. So she quit her job, moved back to her family and started a job search for a new job/health care plan.
These are the choices that people are forced to make instead of immediately going to the freekin' doctor when they get sick.
The current system is absolutely moronic. And yet there are plenty of morons defending it and lying about health insurance reform. That's what's truly scary.
There is a growing gap where people no longer qualify to be on their parents policy yet don't have the kind of job or the kind of money to buy an individual plan.
People who loose their job, or have their hours cut, often loose their health insurance too.
I know of someone who decided not to purchase health care and instead spend the money on season tickets to a local professional team and to send his children to expensive sports camps and ongoing lessons of the same. His wife was too big a diva to work so they had a health club membership for her. And of course, he sustained a serious head injury and the taxpayers of my state paid for it! Many people donated money and gift cards for groceries. Instead of thanks the benefactor of the gift cards was asked if they would just give money in the future.
This is an example of just one family but it makes me wonder of how many more "entitled" are out there?
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