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Health Insurance...or a new car
I as have ventured into business for myself, I am proud to report that I now have individual health insurance for my family. Fortunately, my family has always been insured, but up until now, it has always been provided by an employer. As I shopped for insurance amongst that nationwide debate on healthcare reform, the topic really hit home.
For my family of five, I pay $280 per month for a decent plan. There were options both more and less expensive, but I was able to choose what best fit my concerns. Admittedly, I did become frustrated with the complexity of the insurance plans, and do believe the system as a whole is not user friendly and generally too expensive.
For $280 a month, 5 people are covered in case of medical tragedy, let's assume that is average for most households. Granted, $280/month is a lot of money, but not the travesty that some are making it out to be. Especially when you consider we just came off a government sponsored program aimed at people buying brand new cars. The program catered only to those who drove so called "clunkers" and helped them get into a brand new car. Now, this is pure speculation, but I'm guessing very few of those individuals bought their new cars with cash. They got a loan, to pay for one of the worst investments a person can make - a brand new car. I don't know what the average new car payment is these days, but I suspect $280 would be fairly reasonable.
So, it is perfectly acceptable and encouraged by our government to go into debt on an material item that is rapidly depreciating in value, but outrageous that we should have to pay the same amount to protect the health and well being of a family of 5? I know that car is only worth $20 - 40K, but how do you put a value on the health of your family?
I pay about $140/month to insure two 5 year old vehicles worth a combined $25,ooo. So is it really that unheard of to pay $280 for myself, my wife, and my three kids?
I don't write this as a proponent of our health care / insurance system, as it certainly has some issues, but merely to put the issue in perspective. Those shouting the loudest are generally those wasting the most. The last person I heard griping in favor of ObamaCare, and that they couldn't afford health insurance, was a smoker who spent around $300/month (between them and their spouse) on cigarettes!!!! What?! Another proBama and raging democrat was all for social programs and high taxes, but regularly works jobs for cash to avoid actually paying taxes. They also voluntarily take regular "layoffs" so they can draw unemployment. I'm getting off topic....
Anyways, our government should be focusing on lowering debt, lowering taxes, and allowing Americans to prosper based on their own ingenuity.
3 comments:
Much of what you wrote I can agree with. Often times the most outspoken advocates for another government handout are shameless people looking to manipulate the system to their advantage. However, what came to mind while reading your post are those single mothers with three kids and no skills or college education. At most she is going to get paid 11 or 12 bucks an hour (after taxes about $625 every two weeks). If her insurance is anything like the one I had while working at Miller Nichols she's going to pay probably half of what you're paying. So if she has on top of that a car payment of $280 a month and day care expenses on top of that, it's going to pretty difficult to make ends meet.
Agreed. I'm not saying it's inexpensive, or that it shouldn't/couldn't be much more so. (For some the cost is much much higher than the figures I used) Just that we need to put our priorities in perspective some times.
Well lets say the cash for clunkers program may not have been the best idea in the world, but the idea is not to help people "get new cars" it's to "stimulate the economy. Which has been shredded by deregulation and the marriage of Wallstreet to Washington by several administrations since Regan.
I might add that the prescription drug bill that Bush made law as well as Medicare and Medicaid will be the final straw that breaks all of our backs if a healthcare bill is not passed that includes a "public option" and will regulate the private insurance companies from having so much power in the industry. Anyway do you guys really want a corporation (whos only goal is to serve it's bottom line)telling you what kind of healthcare is best for your family, or telling you what kind of med procedure they'll "allow" you to get?
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