Quote:
Originally posted by Cairo
Maternity...with insurance, your 20% cost is $1,500.00 plus you have paid $4,080.00 for that year of insurance. No insurance, save up $2,500.00 and your baby is paid for! We are getting smart,
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Apparently they redefined that last word there.
Sure, there are lots of cases where it's not cost efficient to have insurance. I'm pretty healthy and I haven't been to the doctor in a few years now. I've still been paying for insurance, and by your reasoning, I'm getting totally ripped off. Fortunately it's called "insurance", and I pay for it so that I am assured coverage in the case of an accident.
Here's an example for you: seven years ago, I was shot in the face by an irresponsible neighbor. I spent a week in the hospital and had probably thirty doctor appointments over the next eight months. At that point, I was an add-on to my father's insurance, and I was probably costing $50 a month. Now, let's assume $20,000 for the helicopter, hospital stay and surgery (which is on the low end, but I don't recall the exact numbers). And we'll go ahead and add $78 per appointment thereafter, totalling $2,340. So our grand total for that fiasco comes out to about $22,340. If we divide that by the amount my father paid each month to have me on his insurance, we come out to 446.8 months (I'll round down, so that the numbers are more favorable to you). 446 months is 37 years and 2 months, meaning that if that one incident was the only reason I ever visited a doctor in my entire life, my dad would break even after 37 years of paying for my insurance.
Now, suppose you're paying $340 each month for 80% coverage (that's from your example). They're only covering $17,872 from that $22,340 medical bill, which leaves you with $4,468 in up-front costs. Plus, you're paying $340 each month. Divide that into your $17,872 of coverage for that particular incident and you'd have to pay for 52 months (4 years, 4 months) to cover it. That's assuming you have no other medical visits whatsoever over that period of time. Plus, you got stuck with a shitty $4,468 bill.
Insurance exists because the world doesn't necessarily work the way we'd like it to. I'm not happy that I got shot, but I'm thankful that hospital bills didn't bankrupt my father.
Whether or not you like it, there's a place in this world for insurance. And whether or not you'd like to admit it, it's smart to have it. Because you can never <b>know</b> whether or not you'll need it.
By the way, the quote in your signature is wrong. I'd appreciate it if you'd fix it. The actual words are "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."