health care rant
Sep. 17th, 2009 12:03 pmInspired by this article.
I have bills that are challenging to manage. I'm self-employed. I don't have any health insurance coverage for myself because due to assets, mostly in the form of a diminishing 10 year old 401K plan, I do not qualify for any state programs to get coverage. Since I have no other insurance coverage for my son I am allowed to pay a reasonably small sum to get coverage for him. I have to pay out-of-pocket for any medical care, yet for the <8 months that has been the case the expenses have been far less than the cost of private health insurance would have been. I am within a few thousand dollars of the low-income threshold that would allow us free care at our local hospital yet I continue to work and pay for what I can. I don't like to make more work for anyone else and I believe in taking personal responsibility for my actions.
( Read more ranting... )
Overall I am severely disappointed by both the lack of a public option and the choice to force all of us to pay into a private plan. I've chosen to buy fuel-efficient vehicles for the past 20 years, too, and see this sort of legislation as yet another way in which our government is giving our money to systems and companies that profit at our expense. I also have misgivings about ways in which this could lead to requirements in treatments whether they be vaccinations or other forms of compliance that might conflict with one's personal beliefs and choices.
I have bills that are challenging to manage. I'm self-employed. I don't have any health insurance coverage for myself because due to assets, mostly in the form of a diminishing 10 year old 401K plan, I do not qualify for any state programs to get coverage. Since I have no other insurance coverage for my son I am allowed to pay a reasonably small sum to get coverage for him. I have to pay out-of-pocket for any medical care, yet for the <8 months that has been the case the expenses have been far less than the cost of private health insurance would have been. I am within a few thousand dollars of the low-income threshold that would allow us free care at our local hospital yet I continue to work and pay for what I can. I don't like to make more work for anyone else and I believe in taking personal responsibility for my actions.
( Read more ranting... )
Overall I am severely disappointed by both the lack of a public option and the choice to force all of us to pay into a private plan. I've chosen to buy fuel-efficient vehicles for the past 20 years, too, and see this sort of legislation as yet another way in which our government is giving our money to systems and companies that profit at our expense. I also have misgivings about ways in which this could lead to requirements in treatments whether they be vaccinations or other forms of compliance that might conflict with one's personal beliefs and choices.