> 1 - If it's voluntary, only the sick people sign up for it.

I've not seen that anywhere, healthy people always sign up for health 
insurance too.  If the insurance company judges them as a low risk they get 
the same cover cheaper than if they are judged as high risk.

> The insurance nature suffers therefrom, especially if those who didn't pay 
> for it get treated anyway, which they do.

OK, if you get treated anyway without insurance then why do even the 
unhealthy people bother paying for insurance?  Who currently pays for the 
uninsured people to get treated?

> 2 - Your health is worth virtually anything you own.

No it's not.

> How much of your personal wealth would you spend to cure your cancer?

If it's a life/death situation then that's just one aspect of your health. 
How much of your personal wealth would you spend to have a finger sewn back 
on or to have a bad cut stitched up?

> The "utility value" of not dying outweighs almost everything else for most 
> people.

Sure, but "health care" covers a lot more than simple "you will die if you 
don't pay" situations, most people don't face those too often.

> Plus, by eliminating coverage for pre-existing[1] conditions, you pretty 
> much guarantee that shopping around for coverage makes no sense - if you 
> know what your insurance needs to cover, the private insurance company 
> won't cover it.

Yeh, it's a bit like telling a car insurance company that you're going to be 
crashing every 6 months and can they still cover you :-)

So, in America then, if you get a chronic condition do your insurance 
premiums sky rocket?  Are you then basically shafted into paying huge 
premiums with no chance to swap providers?

Post a reply to this message