Late husband worked for a health insurance company, and that was the last time we had a health insurance benefit. When he left that job, we got catastrophic care insurance, with a huge deductible. We eventually opened HSAs as well. Over the last ten years, each of us has had jobs that offered health insurance plans. We looked at the cost (to the employee) of those company plans, and the benefits, and restrictions imposed. We compared them to the cost of our current plans and benefits, (when you pay yourself, you chose who you want with no restrictions). The HSA balance creeps up over time, allowing more payments, (dental, doctor's office visits, optometrist exams,) on a schedule we controlled, instead of what the company plans would allow. Employers have been hit hard the last few years, too. The workplace plans we were offered had higher premiums than our individual accounts with Unnamed Health Insurance Company, and were not of more value to us. In spite of being a "catastrophic care" policy with a high deductible, It seems to be paying for things, or making partial payments for things, every time i turn around. Tick removed from back at walk-in facility: Paid half the bill. Prophylactic medication in case I was exposed to Lyme disease: I was stunned to have the couple bucks and change it cost. I asked the pharmacist "Isn't there a minimum dispensing fee?" Yes, she said, but the insurance covers it. If I hadn't had that policy, it would have been twenty dollars or so, for two pills. As it was, I paid less than three dollars out of pocket. I'm actually quite happy with the situation I'm in: the fewer people sticking there noses into my health care (policy wonks in DC or that lady in personnel) the better I like it. And it had no bearing on Poor Late Husband's demise: He had lung cancer, quite likely from his thirty eight years of smoking two packs a day. There were unusual circumstances that contributed to his sudden death only five weeks after diagnosis. No amount of chemo, surgery etc., would have saved him. I had a cancer scare myself, actually less than three months after his passing. I asked a nurse what would happen if I had cancer, and my insurance didn't cover treatment. She said she didn't know how that worked, and she said the doctors and nurses take precautions to not know anything about the finances of patients. That way, she said, those with or without insurance are treated the same way while in the hospital. I think it's stupid to go without insurance to have more money for lattes and cell phones, but I defend others' rights to spend the money they earn in a way that they find valuable. As for people who "End up in the emergency room because they couldn't afford a doctor" I've personally known, lived near, worked with some of those people...and they abused the emergency room option so they wouldn't have to pay. I've heard them rationalize taking a child with an earache to the emergency room to avoid a $20 co-pay at the doctor's office, and the hassle of scheduling an appointment. Then in the next breath they griped that they had to wait so long to be seen.

This is what's wrong with an employer driven health care system. Wouldn't it be nice to know that if you were fired, you'd still be getting the same insurance for the same amount of money you were already paying? Obviously, the people who are afraid of universal health care are the ones that don't have anyone in their own family who are ill and don't understand the implications of what happens when an illness strikes. My daughter has diabetes and because of that, now has gastroperisis. Her husband left her and quit his job. So, I am paying for her Cobra although I am now earning 1/2 of what I used to due to the economy which is barely above minimum in some states. How are people supposed to survive? What if she didn't have me to help her out? She already used up her lifetime 5 bottle supply of free insulin. I didn't mean to hijack this thread but this makes me so angry, especially when so many people are uninformed and so insensitive.

In response to Agnes, A few years ago I woke up one morning and noticed that colors were not very vivid in my left eye. A couple hours later I noticed that my vision had suddenly become very blurry in that eye. By that evening I could not see bright lights with that eye and everything was gray and white --- no colors at all. I got an eye exam that night and was diagnosed with optic neuritis and probable multiple sclerosis. Two days later I had an MRI and found out I did not have MS, but had two brain tumor instead. One of them was wrapped around my carotid artery and pushing on my optic nerve, which is why I was almost totally blind in my eye by this time. I had brain surgery a few days later. This is why the OP does not need to be without health insurance even if she is young and healthy. I was too, until I woke up that morning.

Here we go again! No idea what is going on yet people are making absolute statements of "fact" and not knowing what they're talking about. Unfortunately you asked the wrong people. What you need to do first is find out what you signed. Short of advice to find out what you signed, forget all advice that is given under presumption and guess. I'm glad to hear you're going to check on what you signed. KUDOS! I'm sure you learned your lesson to sign NOTHING without getting a copy. No copy? No signature. Period. Hospitals and clinics are amazed and angered often when I won't even sign until a duplicate is out. Also, don't take their word that they'll get you a copy afterward. I made that mistake once. Cynic Rule #4: No copy? No signature! And saying "...the HIPAA law protects you" is an ignorant statement in this case. HIPAA does not protect you if you sign a waiver, which is often the first thing you have to sign for medical care. For anyone to make absolute statements of what is happening or can happen is naive since we don't know what was involved. I would doubt that it's a scam since it's through the Dr's office and given their liability in the event of a scam, they're not likely to take a chance. However, they might think something is good for you that you don't think is good for you. You're doing the right thing by finding out what you signed. Then you can start asking intelligent questions and stand a chance of getting some at least somewhat educated answers. Good luck!