For my parents, a lifetime of payments and health, then they kick you once something ‘bad’ happens, like a glimmer of cancer. Isn’t that what insurance is for?

I agree that an event or incident should not effect your ability to obtain future insurance. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I hope this works out for you.

For those out there like your commenter Patty–aaah, wouldn’t it be nice to get something for nothing. Unfortunately, if you want to cover more people, someone’s got to pay.

The way insurance works is that you have to get premiums from healthy people and unhealthy to cover the unhealthy people. If you simply mandate that insurers “act” like they have one big group plan, without a mandate that people obtain insurance, not everyone jumps in the pool.

Let’s say you recently joined the millions currently in the ranks of the unemployed. You don’t have a lot of money to burn. It’s possible, if you are healthy, you decide to forego health insurance–say in favor of food and shelter, things like that. If you are unhealthy, you may scrape together that premium dollar because you know it’s the cheaper way of treating that disease you have. It’s a financial decision.

To deliver health care to all or our citizens, someone has to pay, either other insureds, taxpayers, or insurance company shareholders. We can’t get it for free.

The problem with plugging the dike here and there is that the water starts gushing somewhere else. With a goal as big as this one, you’ve got to address all the leaks at he same time or you’ll just spring new ones.

Take away Congress’s health plan, and let them TRY to buy health insurance on the open market. Then you’ll see health reform passed in a heartbeat!