Cost: An arm or leg
In the end, someone has to pay for those without health insurance
Insurance is a gamble.
But unlike the lottery, it is a gamble people don’t want to win.
Illinois and most states now require people who drive to have car insurance.
You pay your premiums for 20 years and never have an accident. The insurance company keeps the money.
Most people would probably prefer this than to having an accident, which can result in injuries to you, family members or those in the other vehicle.
It also results in a smashed up vehicle, which has be fixed or replaced at some cost and inconvenience.
Financial institutions won’t make a mortgage loan on a house unless it is insured.
If the house burns down or is destroyed by a tornado, the mortgage won’t be paid unless there is insurance.
People pay their premiums for 30 years, nothing happens, and the insurance company keeps the money.
But, things do happen and insurance companies pay claims, using premiums and sometimes investment income.
Life insurance is a little different because anyone willing to keep paying the premiums long enough will win, although their heirs will get the benefit.
Term life insurance, in which coverage is purchased for a specific number of years, is a gamble which most people would prefer to lose, allowing the insurance company to keep the premiums.
Health insurance appears to be different. Although different figures are thrown around, about 15 percent of the population or 45 million people don’t have any coverage.
We are told a lot of these people don’t want health insurance or can’t afford it.
If you don’t want insurance, that is fine, as along as you don’t expect any treatment, beyond what you can pay for out of pocket, if you get sick or injured.
But that is not how it works. If someone, who is sick or injured, shows up at an emergency room, they are going to get some type of treatment.
Efforts will be made to get them to pay, but hospitals provide billions of dollars of free care every year.
The state of Illinois attempted to strip Provena Hospital in Urbana of its tax exempt status because it was not providing enough charity care.
In the last year, the University of Chicago Hospitals were criticized for sending uninsured patients to other hospitals instead of providing free care.
If everyone has some type of coverage and pays something, the hospitals could probably charge everyone less. That would be one step towards getting health care costs under control.
Since health insurance policies can easily cost $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 per year, there are going to be people who can’t afford it.
If insurance companies want to provide coverage to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, we would probably let them.
Insurance companies are criticized for refusing to provide coverage to people who already have illnesses, some of which require expensive treatments.
Is it surprising insurance companies don’t want to take a gamble they know they will lose?
Overhauling the health care system is actually simple on one level. Everyone has to be involved and everyone has to pay something.
For those who cannot afford to pay very much, someone has to provide subsidized coverage.
If the insurance companies want to do it, they can, but that probably means higher premiums for everyone else. Unlike the government, insurance companies can’t print money.
More likely government is going to have to provide the coverage, one way or another.
Michael Farrell is a staff writer for the Morris Daily Herald. He can be reached at 815-942-3221, ext. 2028, or send him an e-mail at mfarrell@morrisdailyherald.com.
