YES WE CAN!

[arthoniel]

HEALTH CARE PASSED YESTERDAY!!

NOW I'LL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO GET HEALTH INSURANCE ONCE I'M NOT ON MY PARENT'S PLAN ANYMORE!

NOW I WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO GET IT BECAUSE I HAVE A "PRE-EXISTING CONDITION" (ADD is considered a pre-existing condition. Even though it barely affects my life.)

NOW, EVEN AS AN ACTRESS, I'LL STILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE!

NOW I WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT OBSCENE PREMIUMS!

NOW I WON'T HAVE TO LIVE IN FEAR OF SOMETHING SO SIMPLE AS BREAKING A BONE!

NOW I WON'T HAVE TO TAKE A CRAPPY JOB JUST FOR THE HEALTH INSURANCE! (I'll just have to take one to pay all my other bills... I'll still be an actress after all.  XD)

Now, for literally the first time in my life, I can say that my government has created something that will actually help me in my lifetime.

Our new health care system is not perfect. Far from it. We still have a ways to go... but this is one of the few times in my life I can actually be proud to be American in this modern day and age.

Comments

[scholars.livejournal.com]

Nope! It's not that we can't get it - my parents never wanted it, I guess. We don't really get sick, and we don't live lifestyles that would really put as at risk for anything. Just basic things like maybe colds or the flu once in a while, and I had shingles once. And my dad and I need glasses. We pay ourselves.

What I'm wondering is, if we're going to get forced to have health insurance now... we'll have to pay for it, right? That sounds more expensive than what we're doing now... I doubt my parents would have bypassed insurance if it wasn't. Then again I don't really understand how insurance works, or how health insurance works, or how this new thing they did will change it so idek. Sounds cool for the sick people though.

[arthoniel.livejournal.com]

But it's not even necissarily for an at-risk lifestyle! All you would need to happen would be for you to be crossing the street when some idiot drunk driver hits you, and you could be flooded with medical bills, and those really add up.

Uh... do you understand how health insurance works at all? Not, like, in a derogatory/elitist way or anything, but... I just want to make sure we both know what we're talking about so it's not confusing and stuff.

[scholars.livejournal.com]

I've told you a few times that I don't understand at all! Lol. I don't waste time trying to understand the complexities of things that don't affect me. And until now this was one of those.

I... actually never walk anywhere but that's besides the point LOL. I obviously understand how it would be helpful in freak accidents, but otherwise, I'm not sure I understand.

[arthoniel.livejournal.com]

Well... hmm. Getting health care... is sort of like making a bet with the insurance company. (It is the metaphor my parents used when I first asked about it when I was younger... but hey, it works!) They're betting that you won't ever get sick, or hurt. You're betting that you are. Thing is, it's a bet that you know you're going to win- it's why you have to pay to get in on it. But when you win that bet, and you do get sick or hurt or whatever, the insurance company has to pay up, and they pay up plenty- they're supposed to cover most to all of your medical expenses, which is a lot. So basically... when you're getting health insurance, it's a way for you to make sure, even as you're paying them a bill now, you won't get slammed with massive (it could go up into the millions of dollars!!) medical bills later. I hope that explained it...?

But it's not just freak accidents- that's only the one example I gave. Health insurance covers... everything medical, really. Broken bones. Sicknesses- cancer, for example, or any other kind of illness. Doctor's checkups. Medications to help you concentrate/cure that stomachache/deal with severe allergies. Your glasses. When you get a little older, if you choose to have kids, if they have ADD or some other similar thing. All of this stuff is covered by health insurance, and it makes your life significantly easier to deal with, and easier to pay for. Even if this doesn't affect you right now, it will soon. Especially when we get older, we will inevitably develop some condition that's gonna need treatment, and if we don't have insurance, that turns into a real problem- with insurance, we don't have to worry. That help?