Political Joe TAN

I just read this and thought it was pretty interesting.  Seems like somebody around here was saying this would happen a couple years ago.

Administration struggles to sign up young 'invincibles' for ObamaCare

My favorite part: 

That's because statistics show, the average uninsured male between the ages of 21 and 35 will see a physician as seldom as six times during that 14-year period, according to Carl Schramm, a former insurance company executive who now teaches economic policy at Syracuse University.

For those who are insured, the New York health care consultant company Milliman says men 19-34 years old will see a doctor 1.8 times a year compared with women, who will on average see a doctor 3.6 times. The two data points suggest many young people may not see health insurance as necessary.

"Most of them have zero health costs. In fact, the median health care spending for this group is exactly zero," said economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former head of the Congressional Budget Office.

So what exactly was ACA trying to fix with these uninsured people?

Their disposable income.   No, really. 

I'm fed up with the idea that the young somehow "owe it to the old people" to take care of them.  Parents take care of their kids, not the other way around.  It disgusts me.     We're saddling our youth with a burden they will never be able to bear.  Both with Obamacare and the disaster of Social Security. 

if the median is zero - that means at least half of these guys spend zero dollars on health care - how is that even possible????  also, women get the added luxury of annual health screening exams and hormonal birth control that men don't spend on but certainly benefit from, so why not spread that cost around some?

I did not go to the doctor (or the dentist) for at least 6 years  20-26.   From 26-39, I've gone to the dentist regularly  but   I've gone to the doctor maybe.... maybe 5 times for an actual problem in the past 13 years.   I've taken no prescription medicine.  If I didn't need a physical for my CDL every 2 years, I probably wouldn't have gone much more than those 5 times.   I've had a few "involuntary" workups in preparation for our adoptions.

The median spend on flood damage is also zero.  That doesn't make flood insurance worthless.

Insurance doesn't exist to take care of the median case.  Insurance exists to allow people to mitigate the impact of low-probability, but devastatingly expensive, events. 

Sadly, for people in the US, they expect medical "insurance" to work this way. 

I want my MTV.

if the median is zero - that means at least half of these guys spend zero dollars on health care - how is that even possible????  also, women get the added luxury of annual health screening exams and hormonal birth control that men don't spend on but certainly benefit from, so why not spread that cost around some?

If you call it TAN, they will come. 

P***y.    (I keed, I keed!)

We don't even take our kids to the doctor unless a fever tops 104, or it drags on for more than 5 days.  It's not even a cost issue, I'm 100% covered for everything under the sun while on my expat assignment.   

And I agree that this is a great thread idea.  I'm hoping I can lob in some of the doosies that we seem to get almost weekly here in China.   Stuff that's fun to discuss... but probably doesn't need its own thread.

I guess if it's a fact it's a fact - I just can't wrap my mind around not having to see a doctor for 15 years!  You people are LUCKY, trust me.  Even with my healthcare, I do the math every year and the high deductible plans are still a better deal for me, but mainly because of the employer added HSA/FSA funding that pays the majority of my out of pocket costs to reach said deductible.

I'll throw myself in there as well.  Other than immunizations when I was young I never once went to the doctor as a kid.  Not a single time.  The Navy did our annual physicals and stuff, so I technically went to the doctor (not out of need) from 17 to 23.  From then on, I never went to the Doctor until three years ago when I was 37.  Even then it was me calling to do a wellness checkup because I was doing all these crazy triathlon things.  The doctor even looked at me funny as to why I was going to the doctor for a wellness checkup.  lol

I've always had very good insurance through my employers this entire time.  I would say at a conservative level my total insurance probably averaged $500/mo. (employer plus employee contribution) over this period of time.  So, from the age of 23 until today (age 40) I'd say I've paid in over $100k in insurance premiums with a net deduction of probably under $1000 over this period of time.  I'm the guy they don't want to lose on insurance.  

In the last few years my family has had some medical expenses which probably topped $10k or so, but the vast majority of that was paid out of pocket due to being on an HSA with a high deductible the last 4 years.

Obviously I'm just one guy, but I would say the vast majority of people are similar to me.  Hence, the article where young adults simply don't "want" insurance. 

btw, that Global Warming was really cold and icy on my way to work this morning.  

I've got a new sales guy that started a few weeks back.  He grew up in So Cal and went to school at TCU.  We're having a lot of fun watching him deal with the cold.  Last week he went to drive somewhere and walked back in the office with a stunned look on his face and said  "There's ice frozen to my windshield".  haha

Going to be almost 70 in St. Louis today.   And then there's this...

I was too happy when all of my kids were born to worry about that kind of stuff.  In the end it all works out like it's supposed to.  I agree that it seems needlessly long and ridiculous, but compared to my children being healthy and happy..........I couldn't care less.

Try coming to Calgary.  The high for the next few days is zero.   Fahrenheit.