Health Insurance

Health insurance is really a pretty simple concept. Everyone in a group of some kind (citizens of a country, members of a union, D&D guild, etc.) each put a small amount of money into a collective pool that allows for those people to access the funds in the event of an emergency.

Warning: Dragon attack claims may be denied

In the United States there are many kinds of insurance primarily provided by private companies. HMO, EPO, PPO, POS, etc. (Seriously, there is a type of insurance plan called a POS. It stands for Point of Service, not the other thing you're thinking of right now.) They all operate in basically the same way: You pay money to a company every month and they pay money to your doctors and medical providers so you can get the medical care you need. Mostly. Many plans have copays and deductibles requiring you to pay a portion of the bill as an incentive not to see the doctor if it isn't necessary. Also, sometimes claims are denied and sometimes your doctors won't accept your health insurance, but for the most part this is how the system works. The system in the U.S. is primarily based on wealth. The more money you can afford to spend on your health insurance the better care you will receive. If you have a low enough income you may not have access to health insurance at all and be required to either sign up for a government assistance program or pay out of pocket for expenses. Rich people LOVE this system.

Ayn Rand touches herself at night thinking about the American health insurance system. Or, you know, she would if she were still alive.

The health insurance coverage in many other countries is either totally or partially government based, funded either from national taxes or state/province taxes depending on the nation in question. This system still requires that members pay in and then the government or company pays out to the medical provider, but these systems have a lot more regulations in place within the healthcare industry and often have price caps on what can be charged for certain services and procedures. Rather than the richest people having the most access to care this allows for those with the highest level of need to come first. Because of this there are sometimes increased waiting periods for non-urgent medical situations.

Health insurance is necessary because medical care is fucking expensive. Doctors go through a lot of expensive training to learn how to do what they do. Mistakes will still happen despite the best training so doctors must maintain liability insurance. Prescriptions have to be created, tested and marketed with the profits they earn from other medications.

Side effects may include chronic fatigue, uncontrollable sneezing, and poverty.

Beyond that, when you are having a medical emergency you don't really have time to shop around, review doctors and medications, and negotiate prices. You just need them to sew your arm back on already and they know that. All negotiations are done after the service is provided and that doesn't give providers much reason to lower their price for you. All this adds up to people needing a way to cover expensive health care costs. Insurance, whether public or private, allows everyone to pay a set amount for the ability to have their medical needs covered in the future.

So if health insurance is a good thing overall why is everyone so angry about it all the time? There is one primary reason for that: it usually makes up one of the most expensive parts of your monthly budget. People bitch about their high rent/mortgage, taxes, the cost of gas and transportation, etc. all the time. People want to use all their money for chocolate cake and high class hookers and things like rent and health insurance eat into their hooker budget. Much like paying taxes and wearing pants, having health insurance is an unpleasant yet necessary part of life.