On Oct 22, 4:19*pm, Lanny Chambers > wrote:
> In article
> >,
> *"Tim M." > wrote:
>
> > Those who can't afford the premiums for such should get
> > a tax credit (not deduction; credit) for the cost of the premium.
>
> But that won't help folks who don't make enough to owe taxes, unless it
> gets added to their withholding refunds. You might be surprised how much
> you can make without owing taxes, due to certain deductions. It could be
> as much as double the official "poverty" level--not dirt-poor, but still
> having to make careful choices, and unable to afford $1000/month for
> insurance.

Yeah, that's why I said a tax credit, not a deduction. As I
understand it, many poverty-level family heads not only don't pay anyt
taxes, they still get tax refunds. If they're not paying taxes,
they're get a larger refund. That in effect *becomes* the income
needed for the insurance.

> Current high-deductible catastrophic insurance plans are predatory
> rip-offs. It can be difficult to get them to pay for *anything*. The
> automatic initial response these days is to deny any claim, and make you
> appeal the ruling. Policies are deliberately written in weasel language
> to suggest one thing, then you're told you misinterpreted the plan and
> your claim is not covered.

Right, that's what they do with regular medical insurance as well.
So, get rid of the regular insurance entirely, add a public option for
the catastrophic coverage (so that the private companies have to
compete) and lower the overall incidence of insurance bull**** by
about 95% in one fell swoop.

> All insurance companies blow dead rats.

No arguments there; I just had to send off a letter at lunch to the
state insurance commissioner - my insurance company has chosen to
simply ignore my claim for the final disposition on my Miata - not
deny it, not negotiate it, just IGNORE it. And while it is not the
first claim ever, it is only the third claim in 27 years with the same
company, which has covered cars for my entire family of five during
that period. Pretty ****ty behavior.