I’ve been seeing a lot of banter on Facebook about this healthcare bill. I’ll admit that I’m not completely up to speed on the healthcare bill, but I am completely up to speed on my own health insurance. I wonder if any of the people making idiotic remarks like, "the end is near" and "this is socialistic warfare now" could hold up their end of an intelligent conversation about health insurance.
Do you know how your health insurance works? Do you know how much it covers or what you would be paying for health care without it? Do you have your insurance because it meets your needs? Or because it was the only option you had? Is there anything screwy about your insurance? Will your insurance cover you forever or does it cap out?
Do you ever call your insurance company? I do. I call them every single time I go to the doctor. I get the medical billing codes, and I find out how much I’m going to have to pay. I have a high deductible plan with an HSA, so I check all of my EOBs online to make sure that the amounts I am paying are being properly applied to my deductible. I also call pharmacies to compare prices on prescription drugs and find the best deal because my health insurance plan has no co-pays. "No co-pays?" my friends sometimes ask. They think my health insurance plan sucks because I have to pay $120 to go to the doctor. But, you know what? I spent three days with a calculator and the internet creating scenarios and weighing the pros and cons and costs and benefits of three different types of coverage before I chose my insurance. Maybe if the general public did that, we wouldn’t be in the midst of a situation where our health care system even needs to be "overhauled."
I’m not saying the healthcare bill is good or bad because, like I said, I’m not up to speed. But I can say this – make sure you’ve got all your personal shit straightened out before you start broadcasting an opinion and trying to push it on everyone else.
