Subject: [WSFA] Re: Telnet and Insurance [was: Re: [WSFA] Re: Minutes]
From: chuckdivine <chuck.divine at att.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 12:17:51 -0400
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

On Thu, 2005-05-12 at 01:41, Mike B. wrote:
> >I have two more weeks to decide whether to opt for medical insurance.
> >It would take a big bite out of my meager salary.  Perhaps I'll see if
> >I can get it just long enough to get new glasses, then cancel.  Since
> >being uninsured only subtracts a month of life expectancy on average,
> >it's not really worth having if it costs enormously more than one
> >earns in a month.
>
> It's not the life expectancy (i.e. end of life treatments) I worry about,
> it's the cost of treatment for less-than-life-threatening conditions...like
> broken bones, infections, cuts, burns, etc., and the
> only-life-threatening-if-untreated ones, like minor heart attacks, ashthma,
> treatable cancer, etc. that I want insurance for.  It changes the gamble of
> all I own, and will earn, into a sure loss of an afordable amount.  Without
> insurance I may pay nothing, or I may pay tens or hundreds of thousands of
> dollars, depending on what happens to me.  With insurance I lose a fixed
> number of dollars out of every paycheck instead.
>
> If you don't go for the insurance benefit and self-insure yourself, you
> might want to at least look into an "umbrella" policy that kicks in after
> some large deductable (whatever you are prepared to cover on your own...if.
>  The higher the deductible, the lower the premiums for the umbrella) so you
> don't end up in debt for life due to a single event.  When I was 25 I
> didn't care a lot about insurance...sprains from sports were my most likely
> medical issue, and actually happened.  These days there are a lot more, and
> more expensive, possibilities.  Insurance isn't perfect, and getting worse
> all the time, but it's better than nothing IMO.

Let me second that.  Quite a few people on this list know how healthy I
am.

In January 2004 I slipped on the ice -- walking to a car, not running or
skiing or something else athletic.  Later that day I noticed my elbow
had gotten a bit banged up.  I put on a bandage and some antiseptic and
thought no more about it.  This was on a Thursday.

The elbow was tender and sore over the weekend.  On Monday I carefully
examined the elbow in a mirror.  There was a swelling the size of a golf
ball.  First thing Tuesday morning I phoned my doctor and explained the
situation.  They had me in for an exam in less than an hour.  Two hours
plus later they sent me home with a prescription for antibiotics and
pain killers.  They also told me to come back Wednesday at 8:30 AM for a
followup.  Wednesday they put me into the hospital.  I had an infection
that was running out of control.  At the hospital they told me my white
blood count was 16,000.  It should have been below 9,000.  Three days in
the hospital, at a cost of some thousands of dollars, and I was cured.

Insurance to cover minor illnesses could be overkill.  But something to
cover situations like I faced seems like a good idea.

Best,

Chuck Divine