The current state of healthcare insurance in America is an abomination; a total mess; a disgrace.
Today if one needs medical attention, how the medical bills get paid (or not paid) depends upon whether you are injured at work, in a car accident, or slip on an icy public sidewalk. It depends up whether your illness or medical condition is a “new” health condition for you, or whether it’s a long standing chronic condition.
Your medical bills will get paid (or not paid) depending upon your status in life, not the fact that you are a human being in need of medical help from a doctor or a hospital.
Furthermore, your ability to obtain insurance will depend upon whether you are working or not working; whether you are married or not married; whether you are child, a young college student under the age of 23½ or over 23½, or whether you are an adult over 21 or a child dependent under 21, but not in college.
If your spouse dies in a tragic accident or from a terrible unexpected disease or medical condition and you were covered under your spouse's health insurance plan, you will soon find that YOU have no health insurance.
Your medical bills will be paid (or not paid) depending upon your sexual orientation coupled with your marital status, coupled with the State that may or may not recognize your marriage.
Your medical bills will be paid (or not paid) depending upon what insurance carrier your employer has offered to you. It may restrict your choice of doctors to a Preferred Provider Option whereby in order to obtain coverage you are forced to agree to a limited list of doctors, who have privileges in a limited number of hospitals, and will no doubt restrict you to the State you officially reside in.
As an example, if you live and work in Connecticut, you may not be able to even consider seeking medical treatment from any of the superb dozens of excellent internationally known medical centers and the internationally acclaimed doctors in New York City, a mere 30 miles away.
If you lose your job your insurance will be dropped. If you sign up for Cobra benefits they will be dropped in 18 months, upon which you may find your premiums will double, triple, or quadruple, depending upon your medical history. Or, you may just be deemed uninsurable. Yes, many millions of Americans are uninsured not because they can’t afford the sky high premiums. They are uninsurable at any price. No insurance company will insure them due to their history of submitting insurance claims for their health conditions.
If you are a college student and turn 23½, your insurance under your parent's coverage will be dropped and cancelled. You are now on your own.
If you get divorced and had coverage through your working spouse's employer, your insurance will be cancelled.
If your employer provides an employer based insurance plan and due to a downturn in business decides to drop all employee insurance coverage you will (if you can afford it) be forced to purchase health insurance on your own. You will turn sheet-white when you see the monthly premiums that a non-employer based policy costs.
If you move to a different State you may find that your current insurance carrier does not offer policies in the Sate to which you have moved.
The doctor you most want to go to may not accept the insurance plan you have because he may have been denied so many claims that he just cannot deal with them.
Your health insurance plan may drop your coverage if you contract a certain disease or medical condition, or it may decide to NOT cover that disease or condition.
Your health insurance may (or may not) pay your medical bills depending upon which hospital you incurred the bills at.
