Planning on dropping Health Insurance. Change my mind.

[zmountaineer]

When I was 24 I got the flu really bad. Ended up going to the ER then getting admitted bc I couldn’t breathe. I was like you, rarely sick. My insurance at the time I had to pay a flat 20% of all billed charges. I even worked at the hospital that I was admitted to. My bill was over $10k.

When my wife and I were having twins, my wife had to be on hospital bed rest. Then once the twins were born they spent a couple months on the NICU. Total bills were $92k for my wife, $152k for my son and $250k for my daughter. With my insurance all maternity care was covered so I ended up paying nothing.

Health insurance, in my opinion, is a necessity.

 

[HillStreet]

Don’t cancel your insurance $2200 is not that much relatively speaking. Don’t ever think that because you’re 28 and healthy you don’t need coverage, that could change in a moment.

 

[orezok]

Keep the insurance! I dont want to be responsible for part of your bill after you are declared indigent.

 

[ruffdog]

i believe the biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance bills. All insurance is a gamble.

I know that was the case before the ACA was started. My mom's drugs to treat her Multiple Myeloma is over $20k per month, yeah, that's a quarter million a year. Not many people on this web site could handle that bill with no insurance.

 

[plowhog]

You might consider your range of activity also.

You work around farm equipment, drive tractors, are sometimes around spinning PTO shafts, rotary cutters, and drive Husqvarna riding mowers? Nah, nothing bad could happen.

 

[thekkfan]

Based off your numbers provided, that's $238 per biweekly paycheck for the PREMIUM plan----- PRETAXED. With all those tractors in your sig, sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

DON'T DO IT!

 

[shooterdon]

We have a saying on this part of the woods...

Young, dumb, and full of ***. (Hint....starts with “c”). I know guys who spend $20 a day on booze and cigarettes but “cannot afford” health insurance. These are not stupid people, but they make poor life choices.

Keep your basic plan.

 

[hawkeye08]

You should continue insurance, no reason to risk all your assets if something happens.

 

[tjkubota93]

Another perspective, all of us people that aren't invincible anymore use our insurance alot. We need people like you to carry insurance so rates don't go up! The insurance company loves people like you.

 

[CobyRupert]

Insurance is gambling. Period.

That's true for All insurance (health, home, auto, etc...)

...but unlike other gambles (lottery, trips to Vegas, etc..) it's a gamble if you do participate and also a gamble if you don't. There's no escape.

Most of the stories above focus on the gamble if you don't have it. Very few mention the 10's of thousands, maybe even $100's of thousands of dollars they lose over their life paying insurance.

In fact most people are on the loosing side of this gamble, they have to be otherwise insurance companies would go out of business. This is also true for casinos, lotteries and dog tracks.

Then comes other factors: The price of one's peace of mind (and the freedom that comes with security of insurance, etc...). Risk tolerance is a VERY personal thing.
But it's not just the probability that you may need health care. In all likely hood you probably won't. But one's approach to probability changes depending on the consequences of what is being risked (as it should).
Example: I might be tempted to double my $401K on a roll of the dice where I had a 5/6 chance of winning, but I wouldn't bet my life in a game of Russian roulette with the same odds. .......but maybe if the pay-off was high enough.......hmmm.... yep, risk is a funny thing.

What was that Dirty Harry line: "Are you feeling lucky?"