NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH
Ah ha! I knew it! Cheap health care can be had without health insurance. Here is the proof. George4Title visits a local health care clinic where they charge $360 per year to take care of your basic health concerns.
I've always thought that going to the doctors for a cold or cough was a waste of everyone's time and money. Doctors should be attending to more difficult tasks and patients shouldn't have to pay up the wazoo.
The keywords are CASH BASIS. Insurance just ups the costs. I mean who in their right mind pays $5000 for an ambulance ride? Or how about $5000 to put a cast on that leg? Or $5000 for some routine exam? Or tens of thousands for some routine surgeries and procedures? Everyone in health care is overpaid. How so? INSURANCE. Without insurance people wouldn't be paying these outrageous prices.
My experience has been such. When on cash basis, I think twice about going to the dentist. I may go once a year ot once every two years. Frankly, it really doesn't make much difference between going 6 months or two years. In fact, it might be better, as you are exposed to less XRay radiation. Cash basis forces me to shop around and to purchase only necessary services. The bill is looked over with a fine tooth comb. Any discrepancies are argued over and resolved.
Then there was the time with my dentist when I had dental insurance. When I looked over the bill and my copays (yes my copays were less than cash basis), the dentist was making 3x as much as if I had paid with cash. the prices were hiked to what the insurance would payout at max for the services!
When I went for my eye exam and purchased my eyeglasses, I had vision insurance. I had shown the optometrist (they may want to pretend to be doctors in their white coasts, the are not) that I could get the glasses cheaper online. She told me she had to sell to me at full price. It was actually the policy with my VSP vision insurance! It turns out I would've paid the same with or without the insurance.
India is primarily all cash basis. Only recently, has health care insurance bee introduced by MNCs in India. Needless to say, the services provided by clinics are much cheaper on cash basis! The are actually affordable as they have to be provided at prices the customer can pay!
Ok, maybe you don't be Cadillac service in a brand new hospital with the latest gadgets and machinery on cash basis. You do get basic services at prices you can afford. It's just like with everything else. To get a Cadillac, you must be willing to pay for it. For the serious stuff, health insurance is where it should be used. Deductions of $5,000 or $10,000 makes sure it is only used for emergencies such as accidents or major surgery. And at $50 per month this type of insurance makes sense.
And maybe you shouldn't live another few months if it's going to cost millions to keep you alive. Would it be worth it to be in a vegetative state all that time? Statistics say that 1/4 to 1/3 of a person's lifetime health care costs are spent in the final year. Wouldn't that money be better spent during the time of life when you are healthy? Give me that money when I am able to use it and enjoy it! Don't blow it on me when it's past my time!
Anyways, here is my rant from years past about health insurance.
[Youtube] George4Title visits a low cost health clinic
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