Can Health Insurance Really Be 'Affordable'? ABC News
It especially doesn't work if we try to affix the word "affordable" to the premiums that would be needed to support such "insurance." How much would my homeowner's insurance cost if my insurer knew that every covered home would one day burn to the ground? How much would car insurance cost if everyone in the insured pool drove a red Ferrari, and every red Ferrari got totaled? That is the conundrum of health "insurance."
We are asking for "affordable" premiums that will protect us from the financial burden associated with services that each and every one of us will use; services that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of a lifetime. In fact, I've read recent statistics suggesting that the average American will spend $240,000 just to cover out-of-pocket health care costs not paid by Medicare between eligibility and death. Affordable? I don't think so.
When it comes to discussing health care, I think politicians should start using a word other than insurance, and they certainly need to get rid of "affordable" in the same sentence. Yes, there's plenty of room to make health care "less expensive."
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