Health Savings Account-Health Savings Account Info

Obnoxious American asked:


Since unlimited “perfect” healthcare is prohibitively expensive, even for the world’s richest people, any healthcare, public, private, or self financed will inherently have to be rationed in some way.

The question is; who do you want making those rationing decisions for you?

This question becomes even more important when you realize that these rationing decisions apply not just to the standard of care but also to behavior.

Regardless of which system you use, risky behavior (and all behavior involves risk) will have to be weighed, by the entity controlling the healthcare funds, against the ability to pay for the potential injuries that might result.

It is important to keep in mind that the entity controlling the funds (the money is the one that gets to make these decisions.

When healthcare is self financed, the individual pays for their own healthcare “out-of-pocket,” likely from a savings account set aside for this purpose. This system grants the individual the most freedom, but also the most responsibility as it will be entirely up to them to decide how much money to appropriate for healthcare, which conditions to see a doctor about (as opposed to treat at home), and what behaviors to engage in.

On the other hand, private health care removes some of the responsibility and much of the decision making from the individual. While participation in these programs is usually voluntary, once someone has joined such a plan they will be required to abide by the requirements of the plan which include how much money will minimally be set aside for healthcare through the plan, what standard of care is available through the plan, and what forms of risky behavior are permissible (for example, some plans will not admit smokers and will penalize/cancel people for smoking). While these plans do restrict an individual’s behavior, enforce certain payment schedules, and pre-determine the standard of care an individual receives, all of this is known to the individual before they join, the individual joins out of free will, there are contractual requirements placed upon the insurer as well, and there are many plans to choose from, granting individuals to ability to find one that best fits their individual needs.

Finally, public, State controlled healthcare places total control in the hands of the State. Since the money will be taken from you through taxes, you have no control over the amount of money allocated for healthcare or even if you wish to join the State controlled plan. Unlike private plans which will merely cancel your coverage if you choose not to pay, the state can arrest and imprison you for refusal to pay your healthcare taxes. Also, under a state plan, the payer looses the ability to choose a plan that best fits their needs, as only one plan will be available. Also, whereas a private plan can only cancel your coverage if you engage in behavior forbidden under the plan, the State can use the cost of healthcare to criminalize these behaviors and arrest you for them. Under such a system, the State will determine the standard of care provided for each ailment, forcing subjects to hope that the lobby for their ailment is stronger then the lobbies of other ailments competing for the same funding. Finally, unlike private healthcare which is bound by contract, the state is under no such obligation and can “alter the deal” whenever they so choose.

This brings us back to our question, who do you want making your health care decisions, you or the State. Or to simplify the question, would you rather be a free person, making your own decisions, or a subject of the State, subject to its whims…

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/320/7226/10/a

To those who say:

“You still have the right to take out private health care” under a State run system…

How are you going to afford private healthcare after the State has already forcibly taken all the money you would otherwise have spent on YOUR healthcare to pay for ITS “System”???

Katia Hedgepeth