How Important Is Health Insurance?

I am a conservative on most issues.

Having said that, I think the biggest problem with Obamacare is that it didn't go far enough. We will eventually have to have a nationalized health care system. If you think Canada, the UK, Germany, etc. all have bad health care, then you just don't know people that live there. I have friends in all those places who have had serious health issues and they felt they had the best of care just as quickly and effectively as our system. There are places here in the US that have really rotten health care.

People who insist on their right not to have health insurance are either fools or thieves because the rest of us are going to have to foot your bill anyway (like we do with the poor now).

One reason our health care system is so expensive is because with our system (or lack of it), we pay all sorts of middlemen. Let's say an elderly person has an operation. Who has to get paid? Here's the list:

the doctors and nurses
the hospital administration
the medicare administrators and staff who have to process the stuff
THE STAFF OF THE MEDICARE SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE THAT HAVE TO PROCESS THE CLAIMS
THE AGENTS WHO SELL THE SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE
THE STATE AND FEDERAL BUREAUCRATS WHO MANAGE THE SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE INDUSTRY
THE SHAREHOLDERS WHO OWN THE SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY
THE TV STATIONS, ADVERTISERS, AND PRINT MEDIA THAT ADVERTISE FOR THE COMPETING SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE COMPANIES
THE HOSPITAL BOOKKEEPERS WHO TRY TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF THE LAYERS OF PAPERWORK

Notice that all the ones capitalized could be eliminated by a national health care system. I'd feel sorry for the job losses, but that's why our health care system is the most expensive in the world.

Personally, I haven't had health insurance for over 8 years - I feel it's a complete RIP-OFF and way, way too expensive. No one, including Obama-care, should force you to buy health insurance. And they shouldn't penalize you if you choose not to get it. Even though I'll be 53 in less than 4 months, I'm still in remarkable health for my age. My rules for being in excellent health are:

Each day, eat 3 servings of whole grains, 5 fruits and vegetables, and yes it's good to eat meat and fish - your body needs protein and iron.
Run, don't just walk. Expand your lung capacity, strengthen your heart, tone your muscles, build your immunity and your bone density. Raise your HDL. Lower your LDL and Triglycerides.
Lift weights. Good for muscle tone and burning calories.
Don't smoke, drink, do drugs, or have sex outside of marriage. Instead of drinking wine, eat grapes - much better for you.
Fast regularly. No food, but drinking plain water when you do it is fine. Fasting and eating all the foods I mentioned (like meat) is better than a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Don't hold grudges against people - bad for your bones and blood vessels.
Don't be a dare-devil if you don't get paid for it. (Example: Don't try to leap across the Grand Canyon in a steam roller - ouch! Or better yet, don't drive 85mph in a 55mph zone - bad for a lot of reasons.)
And last, but definitely not least, have faith in God. Do the other 7 things I mentioned - God will take care of the rest, including healing you when you need it.

Health insurance is NOT a requirement of life. If it was, you would've been born with a health insurance policy in your hand. Health Insurance is for those who aren't ready to do without it yet.

I could name ten people who were as healthy as you are at age 53 (myself included) and have the same healthy habits, but later on had huge medical bills. If you think you're never going to need expensive medical care, your chances of being correct are one in forty statistically. So what happens then? Here are your choices:

A - Skip the medical care and just be sick or die.
B - bankrupt yourself and your family trying to pay your bills.
C - Rely on the government's idiot idea that you have the right to purchase insurance when you get sick. The whole point of insurance is to minimize risk by spreading it out over a larger group that may or may not need it. If you wait until you're 60, get serious cancer, and then expect some insurance company to sell you insurance at that point to cover your expenses, you're no more than a common thief.
D - Do what the poor do. Forego care until it's too serious to live with and then check into an emergency room and rely on the good conscience of the medical community to absorb the cost.

NONE of these are acceptable options.

If we're not going to make a national health care system, (one payer, tax supported) then we either have to let people like you get sick, go bankrupt, and die, or we're going to have to require everyone to purchase health care insurance or pay a fine for not doing so which can then be used to cover medical bills for the uninsured. (That amounts to insurance.)

There's no easy way out of this.