Why Bother Having Insurance?

My last post stated that I'm facing a hospital bill in excess of $19,000. You might be asking, "What about insurance?" Or, "What would it be without insurance?" It's still $19,160. I have insurance but it doesn't cover inpatient mental health care. At all. So I don't even get the discount that insurance companies get through negotiated rates. I do have a supplemental plan that will hopefully pay $6,000 but I feel it will be an uphill battle getting the forms submitted to their liking. Here's the kicker: I may have been better off not having any insurance. The hospital I was at, like many, offers financial assistance. However, at this hospital, it is only available for people with no insurance at all. It doesn't matter that my primary insurance won't cover my stay or treatment or that there's no guarantee my supplemental policy will pay. I still have insurance, therefore I'm ineligible for any assistance.

It doesn't stop there. I may have been booted by the psychiatric PA I've been seeing since the beginning of the year. My insurance plan only covers three doctors visits a year at the copay. Three total. Of any kind. One primary care visit and two trips to the shrink? That's it. I'm cut off. The PA's office didn't realize this and had only been charging me my copay at each visit. Then every few months I'd get a bill for the balance of the visits. My last one was for $560. Never mind that I always pay. As far as they are concerned, my insurance is so bad I'm considered a cash patient and they only take people with insurance that pays. My next visit is scheduled for February and by then I will have a new plan as my current one is being discontinued. I don't expect my next insurance plan to be any better. All I know so far is my deductible will double. Additionally, nothing I have paid for out of pocket this year has gone towards my deductible.

I work for a very small company. Their primary concern when choosing what insurance to offer is to make sure we still have a paycheck after the premium is deducted. I know small companies don't have many options when choosing insurance for their employees. Few employees means there aren't many healthy people to pick up the tab for the unhealthy ones. The last company I worked for was also quite small, and staffed primarily by women. No one wanted to insure us. We had better insurance than I have now, but we definitely paid for it.

Why is it the American Way that so many have to profit off the sickness of others?