“Insurance” is a misleading term. It implies that the individual who purchases an insurance policy is actually purchasing a form of security. The reality is that too often insurance is little more than an additional argument in a time of great need. I have long been convinced that if your initial impulse is to withhold information FROM rather than to INFORM the people that you pay to help you, then they are NOT helping you. Daily, I meet people who have insurance but drive mangled cars until they can pay for damages out of their pockets—simply because they can’t afford the rate increases. Many people risk living without car insurance because they can’t afford the mandatory minimums required by the states. Those same people live in constant fear of being charged with insurance fraud. How crazy is it that there are people who break their bones in accidents and choose to forego the hospital visit because they’re work doesn’t provide health insurance and they can’t afford the hospital bill, despite working full time? How crazy is it that numerous families choose the emergency room over a doctor’s visit because the emergency room will bill for the care they provide? Never mind the fact that their charges are often quadruple of what the doctor’s office would likely have charged. Katrina victims spend time in court fighting for compensation to no avail. Insurance companies deny renewal for people that are deemed “too healthy.” They also cancel long-standing policies for people diagnosed with fatal or medically intensive diseases. My family has been subjected to the absurd logic that medical insurance offers in place of doctor’s recommendations as an explanation for compensation and or approved medical procedures. Having insurance is not the saving grace it was intended to be. Though life is only remotely different for those of us who do not have health insurance, in the respect that we have NEVER felt secure. Myself, personally, I’ve not had the luxury of insurance for the majority of my adult life. I haven’t had a physical in ten years. Other expenses always take priority. In NY, an acquaintance was overcome by the flu for three weeks and couldn’t work. As a result, that person lost their apartment. She had no savings and she could not recover—another dream forfeited. One accident, one sickness, is all that separates myself and many Americans from absolute poverty. The false sense of security that insurance companies offer and the fact that many American’s cannot afford the rising costs of prescriptions and medical attention is simply unacceptable.
