Healthcare Repeal and Private Health Insurance Policies

I can’t say how many other people feel the same way I do about the healthcare law and its repeal. I know an article about a recent Gallup Poll says 47% of American’s agree the healthcare law should be repealed.

Here’s where I stand as an individual.

I just bought a private health insurance policy. I have a $7500 deductible, because insurance is a hedge against the risk of facing a situation that would destroy my wealth and leave me bankrupt. I work a part-time job which doesn’t supply me with healthcare insurance. I’m quite happy not to be emotionally tied to a job because I’m worried I’ll lose my health insurance coverage. But my coverage costs less than $100 a month, and that leaves me with money I can save to use for medical expenses. Most cell phone plans with talk and texting cost more than this these days! Yes, you can save money and have health insurance on a salary or wage of $24,000 a year. I do it.

The very fact that we’ve become so scared of life’s risks has put us in the situation we’re in, where insurance is thought of as a wealth building tool, instead of a protection, and it says a lot about why most people freak out when I tell them my deductible.

"Aren’t you afraid you’ll have to be put in the hospital?"

Well, yes. But only because that means I’ll be very, very sick and who wouldn’t be a little afraid of that?

As for the money, that’s what emergency funds and savings are for. And if you’re not paying for coverage you don’t need, you can usually afford to accumulate a bit of that! I visit the doctor about 3 times a year. Rarely more often. I’ve had two surgeries in 25 years. With the money I save from paying lower premiums for just the protection I need, I can accumulate enough to cover a variety of life-altering health care needs. A $7500 deductible isn’t something I’ll want to meet every year, but it’s unlikely that will ever be the case. And if it is, it’s going to be tough, but not impossible and my INSURANCE against something financially devastating will have fulfilled its purpose.

But if I wanted to risk it all and have no health insurance because I felt like it, then that’s my own damn business, not the business of the federal government. That’s how I feel about the individual mandate to purchase health insurance. I don’t like it when people take advantage of the system and not keep health insurance when they have the means to buy it and still expect everyone else to pay. I’ve never said I didn’t have a problem with that. And I do believe it is morally wrong to deny urgent care for life threatening or serious injuries or illness. But I believe it is even more morally wrong to take away our right to choose how we meet life’s risks and what we do with our own lives. And I believe it is wrong to force a doctor to care for someone without compensation for his or her time, because we sure wouldn’t expect a plumber or a car repairman to work for free.

Forcing someone to pay for the majority of their care forces that person to learn to be more realistic about what constitutes an emergency and what illnesses a doctor should have a hand in healing. Prevention also becomes more important. Why worry about staying healthy if you can just get a prescription?

A lot of what’s wrong with healthcare in America is the problem of everyone being told to see their doctor for every little thing and few people taking responsibility for their own health. It’s behavioral and character issues. Those that need care have had the cost of care driven up by the many who waste healthcare services with frivolous doctor visits.

Anyway, I just thought I would give readers an idea of where I’m coming from when it comes to healthcare and insurance. If you want more information about the healthcare law and what it really means, check out this book, The Truth about Obamacare. I voted for Obama, but that was before I woke up to a bucket of cold water in my face with the passage of the healthcare reform bill. I won’t make that mistake again.

Free Health Insurance – A Disturbing Myth

According to Google, almost 10,000 people search for "free health insurance" each month. The sad thing is some people actually believe there’s free health insurance coming their way since the passage of the recent health reform law. Misinformation abounds and no one wants to hear that free is never really free.

Even if you do qualify for "free" health insurance under the plan, and I don’t know what the qualifications for that might be, somebody, notably taxpayers, are paying for that free care.

Recent reports have stated that nearly half of all American’s don’t actually have to pay federal income taxes (the portion of taxes paid that will be used to fund the expenses of the healthcare law). This means that only about half of America is going to be expected to pay for or subsidize health insurance premiums for the other half of the country. That number should disturb you.

If you went into work one day and was told that half of you were going to have to pool your money so that it could be distributed to the other half of your company’s workforce, how would you feel?

Robbed is the word I’d use, and yes, that’s exactly how I feel now—and it’s probably not even that much of my money that’s going to be used because I come from a small rural community where incomes are modest by national standards and my federal tax liability last year was a meager $981 after the $800 making work pay tax credit.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want anyone else’s money unless I’ve earned it, and I know I haven’t earned it just by living and breathing.

The thing is, I would be phenomenally angry to discover that someone was stealing money out of my family money jar to pay for something for someone else, no matter the reason. This kind of forced charity does nothing but create resentment and anger, and I don’t like what it’s doing to Americans as a whole. We’re becoming angry enough not to want to give anything, because we’re sick and tired of being forced to give and give and give.

The healthcare reform law is imposing a form of collectivism and socialism on the American people, no doubt about it. Going against the founding principles of our nation is never the right thing, even though many people will tell you that giving is the right thing to do. Forced giving? How is that right?

There’s no such thing as free health insurance—just free-to-somebody health insurance.

Social Justice – Playing Robin Hood

I have to admit, when I was a little girl, it never occurred to me to wonder why Robin Hood was the good guy. He stole from the rich to give to the poor, and I grew up under that ideology. Now that I look back, though, I wonder why all the rich folk of the story are portrayed as evil and only Robin Hood can save the downtrodden people.

There’s one key difference between the society of Robin Hood and our American Society, and that difference is how "rich" is made.

Robin Hood lived in the time of serfdom, where you were either born rich or born poor, and there was never any way to change that. The opportunity to create wealth didn’t exist for those poor. That’s not the case in America.

Robin Hood is not someone I want my kids to look up to in a modern perspective. Because without that historical background, my kids might just think I’m promoting a "take from the rich and give to the poor" philosophy.

Then again, I’ve been pretty clear with my kids that this isn’t the way to go so maybe they’ll be able to guard against the insidiousness of the current Social Justice climate in America.

Robin Hood might have been a hero in his day, but in America, today, Robin Hood is a thief.

Many of the rich in America worked long and hard to become rich, after being poor for many years themselves.

The kind of social justice that promotes redistributing wealth is not the kind of social justice America needs.

The new Healthcare Reform law signed by President Obama yesterday tries to do just that. It takes from people who have good healthcare insurance plans or people who don’t need healthcare insurance plans, and gives to those who don’t have health insurance. If someone wants to self-insure, they should be allowed to do so. If someone wants health insurance but can’t afford it, maybe they should think about dropping their cable and cell phone. Seriously. I paid $5,000 in premiums annually for health insurance when my family of 4 had a gross income of less than $25,000 a year. We made sacrifices, but that was our choice. Too many people these days act like children and refuse to make tough choices. Don’t be one of them.

Life is not fair and this desperate need of the Social Justice movement to make life fair is a disgrace to the diversity of the world and the human population.

If you believe this is about healthcare, think again. This is about insurance for healthcare. It would be no different if Congress passed a law that said everyone who could afford homeowner’s or renter’s insurance should subsidize those who can’t afford it.

And if we let this law stand, if we do not repeal this bill, this is exactly what might eventually happen.

Anyone playing Robin Hood in America today deserves to go to jail for theft. Government officials included.

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