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Quote from: moneil on Yesterday at 06:02:45 PM

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…While the Affordable Health Care Act created some basic standards applicable in every state (such as insurance policies can’t red line out preexisting conditions)…

…and the cost of those pre-existing conditions is paid by… everyone else.

Quote from: moneil on Yesterday at 06:02:45 PM

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…Nobody is forced to carry health insurance, that is a myth.  There used to be a federal tax penalty for those who didn’t have health insurance but that was eliminated in 2019.  Some states still impose a penalty but not the federal government.  …

Hmmm… if so, I can only wonder why I still receive and my account asks for those 1095-C IRS forms.

 Yes, we do pay (in premium cost) for those pre-existing conditions, that is the nature of an insurance risk pool.  Washington State prohibited the “red lining” of pre-existing conditions sometime back in the 1980’s I think.  A predictable result was that several insurance companies pulled out of the Washington market and I think our premium costs were higher than some other states.  On the other hand, a person born with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes, epilepsy, a congenital heart defect (to give just a very few examples) began to have their health plan cover all of their medical needs, which is the purpose of health insurance.
 
As for “the penalty”, I did a search to see what the penalty was for not having health insurance.  I read that the federal penalty had been eliminated in 2019 during the Trump administration but I didn’t delve into it further.  The article said that some states impose their own penalty (Washington does not have an income tax and has never had “this penalty”).  You may need this form for your state.  Also, it may be more efficient to do a blanket issue than to figure out who needs what.
 
This form also may be applicable for Medicare recipients.  At age 65 U.S. citizens sign up for Medicare Part A (sometimes called the “original Medicare”), which covers hospitalizations, skilled nursing care, some rehab services and there is no charge for it.  People can also sign up for Medicare Part B, which is a more traditional health plan (doctor visits, diagnostics and treatments, surgery, etc.) but does not cover prescription drugs.  I pay $145.63 per month for Part B and it has a $250 annual deductible.  Part B is optional, however if someone declines Part B and does not have other coverage, in the future if they want to subscribe to Part B they will have to pay a premium penalty forever (10% I think).  For a time after I enrolled in Part A I declined Part B as I also had other employer provided insurance.  I submitted proof of this other insurance and 2-3 years later when I no longer had it and wanted to sign up for Part B I was able to do so without a penalty.

…and the cost of those pre-existing conditions is paid by… everyone else.

Quote from: moneil on Yesterday at 06:02:45 PM

Hmmm… if so, I can only wonder why I still receive and my account asks for those 1095-C IRS forms.

 Yes, we do pay (in premium cost) for those pre-existing conditions, that is the nature of an insurance risk pool.  Washington State prohibited the “red lining” of pre-existing conditions sometime back in the 1980’s I think.  A predictable result was that several insurance companies pulled out of the Washington market and I think our premium costs were higher than some other states.  On the other hand, a person born with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes, epilepsy, a congenital heart defect (to give just a very few examples) began to have their health plan cover all of their medical needs, which is the purpose of health insurance.
 
As for “the penalty”, I did a search to see what the penalty was for not having health insurance.  I read that the federal penalty had been eliminated in 2019 during the Trump administration but I didn’t delve into it further.  The article said that some states impose their own penalty (Washington does not have an income tax and has never had “this penalty”).  You may need this form for your state.  Also, it may be more efficient to do a blanket issue than to figure out who needs what.
 
This form also may be applicable for Medicare recipients.  At age 65 U.S. citizens sign up for Medicare Part A (sometimes called the “original Medicare”), which covers hospitalizations, skilled nursing care, some rehab services and there is no charge for it.  People can also sign up for Medicare Part B, which is a more traditional health plan (doctor visits, diagnostics and treatments, surgery, etc.) but does not cover prescription drugs.  I pay $145.63 per month for Part B and it has a $250 annual deductible.  Part B is optional, however if someone declines Part B and does not have other coverage, in the future if they want to subscribe to Part B they will have to pay a premium penalty forever (10% I think).  For a time after I enrolled in Part A I declined Part B as I also had other employer provided insurance.  I submitted proof of this other insurance and 2-3 years later when I no longer had it and wanted to sign up for Part B I was able to do so without a penalty.

If you're going to get Medicare, get Part B.  You're screwed without it, if you have medical expenses that fall outside Part A.  I think my mother's Part B costs about $200 per month, and she had massive medical expenses earlier this year due to a health crisis.  She was hospitalized for about three weeks and the total cost to her (3 days in hospital and 19 days in in-patient rehab) was only about $5000.  Without any insurance at all, it would have been $50-$60K.

Seem to be somewhat immoral, though, to deliberately go uninsured when you could afford it, since the costs are being passed along to those who are paying for insurance, who are therefore having to pay higher premiums as a result.  I'm not saying that was your situation, but I wouldn't advise going uninsured just to save money (hoping your debts will get written off or reduced), since you'd be passing the costs onto others, which is the equivalent of theft.

Who said I could afford it?