Young people don't need health insurance!

[feuervogel]

Insurance company: You can get a temporary policy, but if you want to continue it, you have to reapply. And if you use the temporary insurance, you've got a pre-existing condition, for which we'll deny you. That sounds fair. Sure.

The coverage my friends were able to purchase for their daughter was a 180 day policy. The terms of the policy required that, if they wanted to "renew" it, in effect, they had to reapply for it all over again. At which time, the insurance company was free to take into account any "pre-existing conditions" as a cause for denying coverage. "Pre-existing conditions", in this case, included any conditions for which the policy holder sought treatment for during the 180 days of coverage for which they had paid for.

Read also this post, about one of the victims of the health club shooting: a recent college grad without health insurance who can't afford the bill for the surgery (necessitated by some sick fuck who wanted to take revenge on all women for merely existing and not fucking him, apparently) so her friends & neighbors held a CAR WASH. A fucking car wash.

These are two examples of why this country needs universal coverage, like every other civilized nation on the planet.

Comments

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

"These are two examples of why this country needs universal coverage, like every other civilized nation on the planet."

Every time I hear something about "this will [have negative ramifications], like you can see sort of happening in Canada or England!", I'm like "How about Israel? Japan? Sweden? Austria? Germany, where fucking OTTO VON BISMARCK got the ball rolling a century ago? Oh, save some time - how are things on the whole in ALMOST ALL OF EUROPE and the industrialized WORLD?"

Gah, to listen to the critics you'd think Universal Health Care was some radical, experimental thing a couple countries tried, and they find themselves foundering. You wouldn't realize we're one of the last, stupid, stubborn holdouts.

[pharna.livejournal.com]

Whaaaa..............That second story is just...Assssssssssssssssssss

I heart Moon medicine. D:

[intravenusann.livejournal.com]

I don't know how to take your car wash comment. Back home I know a lot of people who can't get decent health care even with insurance and have to leave the island for, say, surgery or cancer treatment and go to the PI for necessary treatment and maybe it is just a cultural difference, but people often do car washes to raise the money needed to pay for the procedure, the transportation, the housing, and etc. Because even though it's cheaper in some regards, it is still very costly and sucky to go to Manilla for your chemo, or whatever. It usually earns a lot of money and there are companies that will match profits to a certain level and it's a way that a community can support someone even if they don't, as a group, have enough funds to just pool their money and take care of someone.

Like I really do not grasp the vitrol that is being thrown at this car wash idea. Is this a massive cultural disconnect happening here? Are we seeing this as "how pathetic they had to throw a fucking car wash to help out this girl"? Rather than "Wow! Awesome community effort! Much love and togetherness and yeah, we don't need the car washed, but have twenty bucks we have to spare!" (People who leave tens and fives better have a damn good reason, imho, that's just stingy)

I know this may be a distraction and I don't mean it to be, since I will age out of my parents health insurance soon and it isn't even health insurance that covers me all the way out here in Maryland, but I get this knee jerk reaction of "And what's wrong with car washes?!" even while I'm going "Man, that's a fucked up situation and it's just plain wrong that this should even ever happen like this."

[thesmallwonder.livejournal.com]

I get the general point they're making in the second post about the car wash. But I could have lived without calling people who don't want to pay higher taxes racist, or assuming that everyone who donates in a can but doesn't want to pay taxes is largely doing it to "stick it to the man".

My primary concern is that higher taxes could potentially effect my ability to pay my bills at home etc, it's a legitimate concern. As much as I want to make sure everyone is taken care of, let's face it, I want to take care of myself first.

Why I put change in jars, click the "Donate $5" button at the pet store, etc has nothing to do with sticking it to the man. It's because at that point and time, I can AFFORD to. Tax increases make me nervous because I've had moments in my life where I've played the "Okay we're not paying electricity this month so we're not homeless" game. I don't KNOW that the higher taxes won't be a burden and cost em my lively hood at some point.