Comment by wavepruner | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wavepruner | Hacker News Reader

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Thank you for this post. I really resonate with it, although I have drawn perhaps a different conclusion.

Due to my limited ability to type/dictate and the controversial nature of my experience, I am not going to go into detail. I just want to give another data point to people claiming that more welfare programs will make these problems go away.

I have completely given up on the traditional health care system. It is so unbelievably bad when it comes to my illness that I am better off becoming my own doctor and paying for everything out of pocket. Because of this, I am a strong proponent of reducing welfare programs(except UBI) and making healthcare participation an option. I am battling a crippling illness. Almost no one has moral high-ground to insist that I give them my money for their health care. I am so so much sicker than easily 99% of the population. I should qualify for disability, but I don't because my illness is poorly understood by slow-moving government bureaucrats.

But I am fortunate to have identified the cure, and in a few years perhaps I will be back to normal. At that point I will be happy to pay health insurance premiums to help those sicker than I, but right now, my survival depends on the ability to not pay. $3000/year is the difference between life and death for me.

> I am a strong proponent of [..] making healthcare participation an option.

You'll be happy to know then that a key provision of Obamacare was gutted, and there is now no fee/tax/penalty for not being insured.

https://www.healthcare.gov/fees/fee-for-not-being-covered/

Dont take this post as an approval of the change - I think it will end up making healthcare more expensive for everyone, as now there is less incentive for healthy people to carry insurance. Not carrying insurance in the US is extremely risky in my opinion, but most healthy young adults don't end up needing much medical care, and a few hundred dollars a month is not a trivial expense. Certainly when I was younger not carrying health insurance for a period of time was the difference in making rent or not.

Yes that change has been a literal lifesaver for me. That $3000 I save a year can now be put towards healthcare that actually works instead of going from doctor to doctor as they shrug their shoulders while telling me there's nothing they can do.

I understand that there are many who believe the gutting of Obamacare is a universally bad thing, but it does put more money in the pockets of hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of sick people who the healthcare system completely neglects. I'm not talking about moderate illnesses either, I'm talking about illness that completely destroys every aspect of your life. Many of the most seriously ill commit suicide because the other option is withering away in excruciating pain while people accuse them of being crazy.

I don't think you appreciate the choice I've had to make. I'd rather take the risk and go without insurance. The other choice is death from not being able to afford the treatment I need right now.

IYDMMA, what's the illness and what's the cure? I am a "temporary staff" member at a state-run hospital entity, but because I'm not "full-time" (which makes no sense because I work 40 hours a week) I'm not entitled to health benefits. So I am trying to bullshit my way into other "full-time" jobs in order to get the health care I need. The state used to give me free health care, but because I make $40ishK a year, they have taken it away.

> IYDMMA, what's the illness and what's the cure? I am a "temporary staff" member at a state-run hospital entity, but because I'm not "full-time" (which makes no sense because I work 40 hours a week) I'm not entitled to health benefits. So I am trying to bullshit my way into other "full-time" jobs in order to get the health care I need. The state used to give me free health care, but because I make $40ishK a year, they have taken it away.

It's worth noting that this varies by state and tends to change based on the number of employees. In NJ for employers with under 50 employees, 25 hours/week is considered full time for the purpose of extending medical benefits.

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