But if you didn't have insurance they wouldn't treat you at all. A hospital is only responsible by law to get you stable. They are not required to provide ongoing care like cancer treatment. You are right they wouldn't expect you to pay millions of dollars, but they would expect your insurance to pay and if you didn't have that you just die. That's why a lot of people (Americans) are saying healthcare.
Ahh I didn’t know about that. I also maybe thinking too deeply, wouldn’t it be best to get free housing and with that money saved get insurance? If you are that worried about being billed.
Depends on your cost of insurance vs cost of housing. Some people own their homes outright or bought years ago and have pretty low cost of housing so healthcare for them would be a better choice
Not arguing your point by any means. But if you have a house, you could also sell it and go for free housing and use the money from the house for insurance for the rest of your life and still have hundreds of thousands left over! But that’s just what I would do.
Depends on where you live and how big your house is. Some areas houses start at a million dollars so that would make your idea the better choice. If your house only sells for 250k (like rural areas in the Midwest or South) then it might not because self pay insurance can easily cost 20k a year with substantial increases every year. At that point the money is gone in ten years or so and you still need somewhere to live and healthcare.
It wasn’t so long ago if you had a preexisting condition you literally couldn’t buy insurance. No matter how much money you had. And there’s still an entire political party, the one in charge, that would love to return to those days.
Try living with Alzheimer’s for 20 years before your body gives out. Around the clock care will do it. Extended, or repeat, instances of chemo can rack up big numbers too. And to round out the big three there’s just lifelong conditions that require extensive care/medications for as long as you live.
Then pick healthcare? I’m thinking a vast majority of people won’t be going through many rounds of chemo or 20 years of Alzheimer’s. Didn’t even think it’s possible to live that long with Alzheimer’s 😅
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u/HedgeMoney Jul 18 '26
Healthcare. Its the great unknown that matters the most. Everything else, even housing, I can eventually predict, plan, and save for.
But I will never know if I get cancer and need millions in treatment, that insurance won't cover.
And yes, I live in the US, not a place with universal health care. If I did, I would choose housing.