Current health insurance options don’t make sense for many Americans. Why pay high premiums for services that you don’t even use? Health insurance does make sense for catastrophic events like a traffic accident injury that could bankrupt you if you aren’t covered. It does not make sense to pay insurance for typical doctor’s office visits that you probably won’t even use during the year.
The following is a dialogue between me and my uninsured son after he returned from the pharmacy yesterday.
“Dad, medicine is so expensive. It cost me $90 for one month of these pills!”
“Yes, that is a bit of money, but as I always say, an investment in your health is the best investment you can make”
“I know, but this is killing me. Shouldn’t I get insurance so that I won’t have to pay these high prices?”
“Yeah, that’s one option. Insurance like that might cost you about $700 a month in premiums. So yeah, I guess you could fork that over every month so you can go to the pharmacy and get those pills for free”
“Hmm… Actually doesn’t seem very free when you look at it like that.”
“Yes son, that is the great fallacy of health insurance”
Do you pay car insurance so that you can get routine oil changes and repairs for free? No! Health insurance should be run the same way. We need more high deductible, catastrophic plans so that people can afford health insurance and doctors can compete on prices for routine services.
-Raymond Kordonowy, MD
Click here to see my prices for medical services.
