For whatever reason, healthcare is a SUPER polarizing issue. As soon you read the words “ACA” or “Obamacare”, you’ll automatically feel positive or negative emotions, likely based on your political leanings. The Affordable Care Act to you is either the single greatest or worst piece of legislature in decades. I’d like to present an argument for enrolling in a health insurance plan, in the most non-political way I can. This November 15^th will begin open enrollment for the 2015 health insurance period. Here’s why I think you should enroll if you don’t have healthcare insurance.

The current state of reality

Healthcare costs are through the roof. It’s no secret that the US spends the most per capita on healthcare than any other country, and it’s also no secret that our healthcare lags behind in quality of care. We spend more to get less. In 2013 (pre-ACA), some 16% (millions) of Americans were uninsured and had no healthcare coverage. Anytime they went to the hospital, they were forced to pay for the care out of pocket. Sadly, most of them couldn’t pay and hospitals were forced to write these expenses off as charity care. Those Americans with healthcare insurance were forced to cover the costs of those that didn’t have insurance. In 2010, this was all set to change with the passage of the Affordable Care Act. All Americans were now mandated by law to carry healthcare insurance. The goal was that by getting more people insured that healthcare costs would fall. The first open enrollment was met with severe technical difficulties but some 12 million people (ok so that number is debated but a lot of people did get coverage) were able to get insurance, whether from the private exchanges or expanded Medicaid. November 15^th is right around the corner and we’ll see how things shake up.

Living without healthcare insurance

Healthcare insurance is a very unique aspect of our society. In other fields, it makes perfect sense to punish those without insurance. Drop your phone in the pool and don’t have insurance? Tough luck, you’ll have to buy a new one. Get in a car wreck and don’t have insurance? You’re sore out of luck; you’ll have to pay to fix it if you want to continue driving. Your apartment gets broken into and you don’t have renters insurance? You’ll be paying out of pocket to replace the stolen items. Have a heart attack, ride to the hospital and receive life saving surgery without insurance? You’ll still get the coverage. Doctors and nurses’ primary charge is to care for you. The money will be figured out later. Hopefully you’ll have insurance to cover it; otherwise you’ll be stuck with the bill.

Healthcare is expensive, for a variety of reasons. We have a number of regulations and rules in this country that make it safe for you to get care. That’s not something you have any power over; therefore, if you get stuck with a bill, you unfortunately have to pay for it. Without insurance, you’ll at best be able to negotiate a discount of some sort. That’s THOUSANDS even HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars you could owe. Just like in the rest of the real world, (hello student loans/credit card debt), hospitals are serious about collecting. Wage garnishment, asset seizure are real possibilities. The number one cause of bankruptcy in the US? Unpaid medical bills. Sure you could argue over the ethicalness of charging you so much but what is the hospital going to do? Tell the ambulance not to pick you up? Tell the doctor to just leave you alone and not operate on you? Deny you life saving drugs and leave you to die? Now that’s unethical! Its funny how people certainly aren’t opposed to getting the care, it’s paying for it that no one wants to do.

Risk calculation

Life is nothing more than a game of rolling the dice. You roll the dice and pay for college, in the hopes of getting a good job. You roll the dice and ask that pretty someone out, in the hopes that they’ll say yes to a date. You roll the dice and figure that getting car insurance is worthwhile (ok, the government makes you on this one) because you couldn’t afford to pay for a new car. Healthcare is about the same. By not getting healthcare insurance, you roll the dice and figure you won’t get sick or won’t break your leg snowboarding. You assume that you won’t get the flu or that the high blood pressure your parents and grandparents had will skip your generation. Our generation is known as the ‘young invincibles’. It dates back to our time in college, when we were on top of the world and nothing could stop us. This mindset carries on with us into our young professional lives. Health insurance seems expensive and something not needed. Truth is; we’re all lying to ourselves. We all have friends with stories of intensive hospital stays. It’s not a matter of if, only a matter of when. Don’t roll the dice on your healthcare.

Everyone into the pool

Detractors of the ACA don’t like being forced to get healthcare insurance. The flip side though is that push comes to shove, they will at some point get healthcare from a doctor. It’s virtually impossible not to partake in our healthcare system. One of the big tenets and pushes of the ACA is the fact that everyone will now be participating. Now we won’t be shouldering some of the costs of the uninsured; everybody will be insured. With everybody on board, healthcare costs will have nowhere to go but down.

2015 Enrollment

November 15^th is upon us. If you are uninsured and still elect not to get healthcare, you’ll be faced with a penalty of 2% of your annual income or $325. Sure the math might end up working out for it to be cheaper not to get insurance, but that’s only if you don’t get sick or hurt next year. By not participating in the healthcare exchange, you are becoming the problem, instead of the solution. Being a young professional and growing up is expensive, and healthcare insurance is just a fact of life. You can’t avoid it, just like you can’t avoid eventually going to the doctor; tomorrow, next month, next year or 10 years down the road. Growing up involves taking responsibility for yourself. While you may not agree with this idea, the fact is, it’s still law. There are plenty of laws I’m against and think are foolish, but as I live in society, I choose to follow them.

Sure the ACA isn’t the perfect solution. Sure things might get worse before they get better. Something has to be done though to make healthcare more affordable in this country. Be part of the solution, not the problem. Otherwise, don’t bother going to the doctor next time you’re sick.

Curious about how health insurance works? Check out this article explaining the ins and outs!