LS: No Health Insurance For Me

Larry Spencer: I do not have insurance by choice. I have not incurred more than an average of several hundred dollars in medical expenses per year for my entire life, and I would guess the number to be more like $8,000 total, including dental and eyesight (contact lenses). How do I do it? I take care of myself, I don’t run off to the doctor because I get the flu and demand he give me something for it, and my doctor visits only cost about $60, as I recall from the last time I went a couple years ago. Yes, a real doctor, in a real office, with a MD after his name, right here in Hayden. Full post below .

Question: Would you feel comfortable dropping your health insurance?

I do not have insurance by choice. I have not incurred more than an average of several hundred dollars in medical expenses per year for my entire life, and I would guess the number to be more like $8,000 total, including dental and eyesight (contact lenses).

How do I do it? I take care of myself, I don’t run off to the doctor because I get the flu and demand he give me something for it, and my doctor visits only cost about $60, as I recall from the last time I went a couple years ago. Yes, a real doctor, in a real office, with a MD after his name, right here in Hayden.

Why does he charge so little? He decided years ago to not treat people paying with insurance, as he had a full time person just dealing with the insurance paperwork. He gives first rate service for a great price. If I go elsewhere, like an urgent care center, they often “reduce” the visit cost by coding the visit as a lower cost exam, and it was once made clear that they do so because they don’t have to cover the hassle of billing the insurance company (or Medicaid) at a cost to them of around $20-30 per visit.

I suspect that if a study was done, it would be found that people who voluntarily choose not to buy insurance spend a fraction of what the average wasteful insured person spends, and are healthier as well.

Oh, and we don’t live in fear like some of you who freak out about the idea that you might at some point become uninsured, and not feeling powerless is a great feeling. Y’all should try it.