Quote Originally Posted by Punish_her View Post
not at all the case, not everyone gets cancer, not everyone has a stroke, not everyone has a stroke. it's the same logic behind insurance companies not accepting people, or charging vastly higher premiums, with pre-existing conditions. it's not the way insurance is supposed to work. you don't total your car, then call an insurance company to get a quote, sign up, and then mention your car was smashed. the system works with people paying into it who are young, paying their whole lives, so that when they are elderly and do need treatment (or in the cases of catastrophic events) they are covered. it is completely unfair for people who are already sick to expect coverage from those who are playing by the rules.
My point exactly: the insurance business model does not work for healthcare. It only works for cars because maintenance and breakdown repairs are done on a different system, and people aren't cars.

It works moderately well in this country because the National Health Service picks up all the conditions that don't fall within the insurance-based systems, as well as supporting those who can't afford or don't want the extra coverage. I don't have to imagine what it must be like without that backup, I read enough American novels to know.


this also is not unreasonable. the fire department has to be paid by someone, either you can buy fire insurance or you can have higher taxes on a state or city run department
I thought the point was too obvous to need explaining. If your neighbour doesn't have fire insurance, are you going to be happy that the fire brigade leaves his house to burn? And set the whole block afire? Firefighting is a communal interest. So is healthcare.