My plan B for those of us who want to keep no health insurance

I don t know they have to work something out for ones who can not pay..With that plan its like no insurance at all.. Larry and I both have pre exiting illness's so people like us would lose out big time.
But its better than what the Congress wants to do.

I don't see where those of us who don't want insurance have any other choice.

A policy with a $100,000 deductible and then after that only 5% coinsurance would be completely worthless as you point out.

If that's the type of plans they're going to push then yes, you'd be just as well off not paying for insurance.

If, however they provide a plan that had, for example, a $4000 deductible with 80% coinsurance with a lifetime maximum of $1,000,000 this is a more realistic option for low income families. My employer offers a plan like this for part-time employees and their families. It's not the greatest coverage in the world but it's far better than having nothing.

The funny part of your solution is in affect now but I am sure the insurance comapny would still charge you an arm and a leg for that sort of policy as they do now. They could care less about the payout amount. They are going to charge you a premium which has no reflection of the benefits. I have seen people with a 70/30 plan, paying $500 a month with a $5000 deductable. what real use is it especially for that type premium and them only paying 70% of the bill?

I don't rule out paying the fine instead. Whichever is cheaper is what I will do at any moment in time.

Definitely somethng to consider!

And if you get sick or have an accident will you still expect to get treatment even if you cannot afford to pay for it upfront?

I don't know what kind of treatment I'll get.

Health Care insurance - costs of health insurance differ by state depending on what each state's insurance commissioner will approve. Two of the biggest factors driving up the cost of a policy are Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating. The first says an insurer may not decline to cover someone due to pre-existing conditions; why is that costly? It means someone can wait to purchase coverage when they're sick; like buying flood insurance after the flood. Today only 5 states require Guaranteed Issue. The second says an insurer cannot differentiate premiums based on risk; why is that costly? It discourages healthy (usually younger) people from purchasing insurance to spread the risk; there also is no financial incentive to follow healthy habits (read here - smoking, obesity, high risk professions, etc).
There are 35 states today which don't require Community Rating.

The 3 states that require both (Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating) have premiums 2-3 times (yes, TIMES) the national average cost.

Guess what Congress and the President are considering. Yup, BOTH. Where are the facts when Congress needs to see them?

Congress can craft a way to assist the roughly 5 million or so who cannot afford insurance today (the other 40 million either have incomes > $50,000 and choose not to purchase or qualify for Medicaid and haven't applied according to various reports I've read) without incorporating the two factors which drive costs upwards.

A simple first step is for Congress merely to permit purchase of health insurance across state lines. Let consumers shop for the coverage they want and can afford.

I don't have to worry about which insurance I want, I don't want any.

If Congress keeps the two you mentioned, but keeps the two I mentioned, then I will have lots of company in having, but not having, insurance.

State lines won't matter a whit, if we are both right.

Useless insurance for all (groan).

From an economic standpoint of course it makes sense to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions. But this is people's LIVES we're talking about.

My brother went to the ER with severe abdominal pain once and the doctors considered doing an appendectomy but didn't go through with it. When my brother tried to get health insurance a year later he was denied simply for having considered having an appendectomy. He has no chronic conditions and is generally healthy but was denied for having considered emergency surgery.

I wonder if he will be able to get insurance based solely on his age, once something is passed?

Ooh, and will men get lower rates?

That would be touchy.

Say hello to Tom, folks.