People
have a hard time understanding insurance and Republicans are more than
happy to play into their ignorance. It is difficult to understand
because the benefit is intangible (you cannot touch, feel, or taste the
protection your insurance policy gives you) but the cost (the premium
paid) is very immediate, measurable, and palpable.
One does not buy insurance as a prediction that one is going to get sick anymore than one buys auto insurance in the anticipation one is going to get into a car accident. But one also doesn't feel ripped off (or shouldn't) if you go the entire year and don't get into a car accident. Homeowners don't celebrate when their homes burn down so that they can finally "get something back" from their homeowner's insurance. The whole idea of insurance is that everyone tosses a few bucks into the pot so that one or two people out of a very large pool will - if they need it - be able to withdraw that money. And if this year, you don't need it, the probabilistic coverage was still beneficial, and next year you might be the one in need. You just don't know.
What the Republicans want is for the many who won't have to collect from the pot (even if they don't know who they are) not to be forced to donate their fair share - even though they anticipate (often incorrectly) that if they have an accident or get sick, they can always take advantage of the system anyway (an emergency room visit here, an unpaid doctor's visit there). It's called free-riding and it's wrong and it's mind-boggling how the party of personal responsibility would push such a massive act of civil disobedience, as they are doing in their attempts to sabotage the exchanges and healthcare reform more generally. They should be ashamed.
One does not buy insurance as a prediction that one is going to get sick anymore than one buys auto insurance in the anticipation one is going to get into a car accident. But one also doesn't feel ripped off (or shouldn't) if you go the entire year and don't get into a car accident. Homeowners don't celebrate when their homes burn down so that they can finally "get something back" from their homeowner's insurance. The whole idea of insurance is that everyone tosses a few bucks into the pot so that one or two people out of a very large pool will - if they need it - be able to withdraw that money. And if this year, you don't need it, the probabilistic coverage was still beneficial, and next year you might be the one in need. You just don't know.
What the Republicans want is for the many who won't have to collect from the pot (even if they don't know who they are) not to be forced to donate their fair share - even though they anticipate (often incorrectly) that if they have an accident or get sick, they can always take advantage of the system anyway (an emergency room visit here, an unpaid doctor's visit there). It's called free-riding and it's wrong and it's mind-boggling how the party of personal responsibility would push such a massive act of civil disobedience, as they are doing in their attempts to sabotage the exchanges and healthcare reform more generally. They should be ashamed.
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