So after looking over my post on our health insurance saga, I realize I still have some hard feelings to work out. And really, my beef is with insurance in general.
Anyone out there truly understand how insurance works? In any field? Three word-Don't Use It. Okay, four words-Do Not Use It.
Insurance, according to Wikipedia, has been around since at least since 1750 B.C. Life insurance policies and contracts covering losses in shipping and goods, is old. Most of us though only use insurance in three areas: home, health, and car, and these are obviously much newer.
Anybody know what the world was like when modern insurance policies were written? Cars, the super-duper fast ones, could top out at speeds of 45mph, but the first ones typically never passed 10mph. An apple a day and leeches was a pretty good prescription, and the cure for many health ailments. Some homes were actually made with dirt (think the Sodbusters of the mid-West.)
Technology has changed almost everything, from the way we travel, to the way we take care of ourselves, and yet our models for protecting ourselves are centuries old. I am the first to say that sometimes the old ways are better but in this case, we are trying to pay for safety with a model that was instituted when people drank urine as a tonic and cocaine was a regualr ingredient in medicines. Isn't time we think of something better? Is it socialism? Maybe. Is it time to demand people become educated on the simple things and quit going to the doctor so much? Maybe. Should cars be built better? Limited in some areas? Maybe.
I'll be honest, I am not sure where to start for the answers. But I know there are people out there with ideas, and it is time we asked them to speak up for all us because what is happening is that none of us are getting what we need. $50 dollar asprin in the hospital is not a good thing, and neither is watching your life go down the tubes when your home is destroyed because of an "Act of God", which can cover anything and everything. Families in New Orleans still don't have a home, how many years after Hurricane Katrina?
Insurance needs to change.
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Interesting history lesson into insurance. I think internationally health care needs to be changed, but where to begin I am not sure. We are fortunate to have more advance technology today, because it preserves life and I am not to keene on leaches......but at what cost. I remember having a discussion with someone years ago over the fact although we have the miraculous ways to preserve our life and health, it may not be all it is cracked up to be as many people cannot afford those cures. Does mean health and well being are only for the rich? I don't know. Where we live we are frequently grateful for socialized medicine. We have been privileged to be able see some of the best doctors in the country and run multiple tests "just to be sure it isn't....." for mere pennies. But we have also seen some of the worst doctors imaginable and if I were in a life threatning situation I might consider the leaches rather than trust some doctors here. While that can be a universal statement, the problem is that unless a doctor here is a speacialist or runs private practice, health care proffesionals are some of the lowest paid proffesionals here. Sometimes I guess we get what we pay for.... Maybe a whole new way of looking at how the entire insurance industry works would be smart. But I think part of it might require looking at how human beings spend money, SAVE money(or lack of ) and how we intereact as a society. Before we had credit, people either saved money or they did not, but there was very little outstanding credit debt, except for mortgage on the land that was purchased. If something bad happened, I am guessing there was no insurance, people either used their savings to start over or got help from their community or both. Perhaps insurance has lulled us into NOT saving for a real rainy day and instead allowed us to spend what we normally would have used for a natural disaster. I have no idea, just throwing out suggestions. Thanks for such a thinky topic! I got to use my brain today for a change!
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