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0 pointsdmm16y ago0 comments

What does "insurance" mean? There are innumerable products which fall under that name. Which will I be required to purchase?

I'm 24 with no health problems. My yearly health expenditures are near zero. My largest expenses are probably biannual teeth cleanings. I really don't need health care.

However if I am hit by a truck I would like to be able to afford someone to set my leg in a cast. So I have true insurance with a high deductible($1500USD/year). This coverage is dirt cheap.

Will I have to pay significantly more in 2014? Why should I have to subsidize fat baby-boomers?

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4 comments · 1 top-level

foldr16y ago· 3 in thread

What do you plan on doing if you get a serious illness? Could you afford the deductibles for that? The whole point of insurance is that you have to buy it before something bad happens. It's incredibly risky and stupid to gamble on the fact that you're currently young and healthy.

>Why should I have to subsidize fat baby-boomers?

Who you're subsidizing depends on how you think about it. An alternative is to consider that you're subsidizing your future old, unhealthy self. Once you're old and unhealthy, no-one's going to want to sell you a new insurance plan with better coverage. (Ignoring whatever changes the recent bill might bring about.)

anamax16y ago

> An alternative is to consider that you're subsidizing your future old, unhealthy self.

Do you think that you'll get back the social security that you're paying today? If not, why do you think that health care will be any different?

foldr16y ago

I'm not talking about social security. If you enroll in a more comprehensive health insurance plan while you are young and healthy, it will pay for expensive treatment when you are older. But by the time you are old and unhealthy, it will probably be too late to upgrade your insurance.

By definition, you can't wait until you're at high risk of requiring expensive treatment before you insure for it.

anamax16y ago

> I'm not talking about social security.

I am because it's another intergeneration transfer system.

> If you enroll in a more comprehensive health insurance plan while you are young and healthy, it will pay for expensive treatment when you are older.

Only if said plan sets aside some of the money that you pay now for your future care or there's some source of money in the future for that care. (You're rejecting the third alternative - that you pay your expected costs as you go.)

SS supposedly promised the former (loans to govt) but it's actually the latter (those loans have to be repaid by future taxpayers).

If you don't expect that future taxpayers will be willing to pay you for what you're paying now in SS taxes, why do you think that they'll be willing to pay for your healthcare?

Yes, I know that boomers are getting away with this. Do you think that later generations will?

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4 comments · 1 top-level

foldr16y ago· 3 in thread

>Why should I have to subsidize fat baby-boomers?

anamax16y ago

> An alternative is to consider that you're subsidizing your future old, unhealthy self.

Do you think that you'll get back the social security that you're paying today? If not, why do you think that health care will be any different?

foldr16y ago

By definition, you can't wait until you're at high risk of requiring expensive treatment before you insure for it.

anamax16y ago

> I'm not talking about social security.

I am because it's another intergeneration transfer system.

> If you enroll in a more comprehensive health insurance plan while you are young and healthy, it will pay for expensive treatment when you are older.

SS supposedly promised the former (loans to govt) but it's actually the latter (those loans have to be repaid by future taxpayers).

If you don't expect that future taxpayers will be willing to pay you for what you're paying now in SS taxes, why do you think that they'll be willing to pay for your healthcare?

Yes, I know that boomers are getting away with this. Do you think that later generations will?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse