A lot of my friends and family have suggested that since Obamacare is the "law of the land", I'm gonna just have to suck it up and live with it.
I lived with "Cash for clunkers", "TARP", and "HARP" - along with other tax schemes enacted to absolve others of responsibility for their actions. I have lived my life righteously. I never took on more debt than I could handle. While others were second-mortgaging their homes to buy big-screen TVs and speed boats, I lived with my 27" tubed monstrosity and eleven-year-old vehicle. Despite the fact that my family and I have been blessed with super-healthy genetics, we have dutifully paid our monthly insurance premiums. They continued to rise year after year and we never filed a claim. In fact, I think the only time we have filed an insurance claim for healthcare was when our children were born over 15 years ago.
When our insurance rates hit their current level of $565 per month with Aetna, I remember thinking to myself, "I don't know how much longer I can pay these increasing rates before I start to feel like I am working to earn insurance." I make a good living, but at some point the risk outweighs the reward.
Now Obamacare registration is up and running - well, maybe it's more like sputtering. Never the less, we have to enroll or face the dreaded penalty we are all being warned about. I don't like Obamacare. I hate it. My premiums are going up and the services are not something I am going to need; I'm done with maternity care thank you very much. So, if I am tired of subsidizing everyone else's bad behavior, what am I supposed to do to mitigate the risks if I decide to withdraw from the system? Even better, what can all of us do to destroy this broken system once and for all?
I have given a lot of thought about this question. I have some suggestions but I am not certain of their usefulness. I pose them for your consideration because I am not hearing anyone else make suggestions like this. Someone needs to start this conversation and I am waiting for several individuals and groups to respond officially to my suggestions. Until they do, here are some ideas:
1) Maximize your automobile insurance for bodily injury. In the past, I have always minimized this part of my policy precisely because I have healthcare insurance that would cover these costs. Without that support, I will need to protect myself from the most likely contributor to significant, unexpected healthcare costs.
2) Ensure that you owe taxes at the end of the year. I have heard all kinds of discussions about the $95 per person "tax" (for 2014). There is some debate about how the IRS is going to collect or process this "tax". I have also heard that the IRS might not be able to assess liens, or penalties related to this "tax". So, I have decided that I will not pay it. I will pay all my taxes with the exception of this "tax" and force the government to prosecute me for it. I have also heard that the only way they can collect this "tax" is if the IRS owes a refund. They can then raid the refund and steal the money directly from me. No refund, no theft.
3) Make arrangements with healthcare providers ahead of time. It might be possible to arrange with facilities and doctors in advance of a catastrophic healthcare event to process your needs at a pre-determined rate or price. This requires me to consider what I might need in an acute emergency that might be more than I could handle in cash. Two scenarios come to mind: A stroke or a cardiac event. These situations would require immediate treatment and could cost a huge amount of money. Perhaps I can speak to a neurologist and cardiologist and pay them a little every month to be on stand-by just for me and my family. Call it "micro-insurance". Or, maybe I call the local hospitals and tell then I'm shopping around for the best price in stroke care. "Quote me a price for a week in your ICU to recover from a heart attack." Then make sure that my family knows my wishes in advance.
4) Take all chronic healthcare treatments over-seas. I've always wanted to recover from a hip replacement on the shores of the Andaman Sea (that's off the coast of Thailand for those of you unfamiliar with southeast Asian geography). It appears that many people can have expensive procedures done in countries like South Korea, Thailand, and UAE at one-third or one-quarter the cost. Many of the medical staff working in these locations were trained in the US. I have heard some amazing stories about hospitals are are more like resorts. I hope I never have to find out if it's true but it sure sounds appealing.
5) Continue to be responsible. If I'm not buying insurance every month, I better be putting that money aside in an account - ready to be tapped in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury. The good news is that the money remains with me. I can invest it, grow it, save it as I see fit. Hopefully it will be more than enough if I can avoid being hospitalized for another ten years.
I am hopeful that others will read these suggestions and either add to them or help me modify them so that they can be put into place with minimal negative impact on me and my family. I welcome all comments.
