When you get your Drivers License you have to pay for Insurance? Right?

[KoKo]

So why would you not want to have some Catastrophic Insurance as a 16 year old or whatever..that keeps you from being Bankrupt if you crash your car and end up in EMERGENCY ROOM and have NO WAY to PAY?

Should your Parents or YOU be responsible for taking care of some health insurance for you so you don't end up with some catastrophic bills?

Years ago...when I was in college my parents paid a small amount for health insurance for ME in case I cracked up my car and ended up needing health insurance OR if I ended up in my college town with some terrible infection or burned myself on the college two burner stove "cooking soup" and had to be treated.

All Colleges used to require that parents paid something like $1,000 by parents (with other part paid by College) to take care of this. But that was back in the l970's and not these days.

So...what do we do? What do we do for those kids who DO NOT GO TO COLLEGE? They get a Construction Job and they aren't covered by anyone. If they are injured either their families go bankrupt paying for their injuries (this happens in those "Right to Work States" with no insurance for employees) and the burden of THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF MED EXPENSES goes to Mom & Dad along with the poor kid who got injured...

And What about our Immigrants? Those folks we bring in "illegally" to build our roads and the apartment buildings, shopping centers to give OOMPH to the Chambers of Congress in our individual States?

Those people have NO Health Insurance...from employers or parents or kindly grandparents who live in those countries we get the "union busting labor" from. They end up in Emergency Rooms (if they are lucky) or "dying on the job" because no one cared about them enough to get them the proper care.

HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THIS? Should EVERYONE GET BASIC CARE? It's more COST EFFECTIVE...spread the Risk Out.

[Chemisse]

1. Not in New Hampshire *gloats* n/t

[Maine-ah]

5. not in Maine :)

[Chemisse]

16. *Fist bumps*

[napi21]

2. No you don't. You have to buy ins. when you buy a car.

Just having a license doesn't mean you have to insure something you don't own.

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. Wrong. You need auto ins if you own a car and want to drive it down the street

I'll keep reading just wanted to get that off my chest first.

[Laelth]

4. The new tax being proposed now ... the one that says we must all buy insurance ...

... is the only one I have ever heard of that you must pay just to be alive in this country.

The only "living" tax ever conceived. It is wrong and wrong-headed.

Forcing people to buy insurance is no more the solution to a failed health care system than forcing people to buy houses is the solution to homelessness.

:dem:

-Laelth

[snappyturtle]

10. YES! nt

[John Q. Citizen]

6. No more corporate welfare. We need single payer. Medicare for all!

[Shagbark Hickory]

7. Here's how we deal with it..

A portion of our income taxes goes to fund healthcare expenses for every citizen.
Just like the budget that is set up to fight wildfires in california, healthcare is just another essential service we need.

Non-citizens will not be eligible for coverage and thus when they show up at the hospital, if they are in the country legally, then they must pay. If they are not here legally then they don't get treated and the authorities are called to haul their butts to the border.

Two problems solved.

[kelly1mm]

15. Single payer and immigration solution in one swoop

interesting ideas - needs more discussion. Most of the progressive ideas for health care reform call for (at least legal) immigrants to be covered. Would put the RW in a pickle when it comes to voting for it though.

[Shagbark Hickory]

18. Explanation...

Why should non-citizens get free healthcare? If I go to Europe or even Canada on a work visa, I won't get free healthcare from any of those countries.
A NHS id card should be issued to all citizens (like social security cards) which also helps keep track of your medical records (3 problems solved!). Only legal citizens get one. People visiting from other countries can get travelers insurance from their own country. It's too much paperwork and too complicated to keep track of all the visitors and it's not reasonable to provide free healthcare to all of them. Especially when they don't provide it to us.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Depends on what state you live in

It's not a federal law.

[provis99]

9. Kentucky doesn't require any auto insurance at all.

I'm sure other states are like this, too.

[lbrtbell]

11. Get a clue!

People don't CHOOSE not to get insurance. They want it, but can't AFFORD it. Congratulations on being lucky enough to have parents with money. Most of us have to stand on our own two feet, struggling to make ends meet because we're losing our jobs, etc.

[SoCalDem]

12. Only have to show proof when you register the vehicle & apply for the actual license.

Many people out here "get insurance"..the cheapest going, so they have proof of coverage, but then just quit paying. Until they have an accident or get pulled over, they can (and many do) drive without it.

I knew a guy once who had not registered or insured his vehicle for FIVE years.. At the time, the fine for driving without was cheaper than the actual coverage would have been, and he just risked it..

[ZombieHorde]

13. No, I did not have to buy insurance when I got my license.

Why would I?

[Barack_America]

14. Health insurance is mandated at my university.

For both undergraduate and graduate students.

If you can't prove that you have outside insurance you are automatically enrolled and billed for their "student insurance", which is complete crap, but will save your ass should something catastrophic happen.

[Seeking Serenity]

17. No, not at all. Total apples and oranges

Many states require automobile owners to buy LIABILITY insurance when they register their vehicles. But this insurance is in place to pay for damages TO A THIRD PARTY that the vehicle owner (or his permitted driver) causes. It is not insurance to pay the owner, such as collision or underinsured motorist coverage. That the owner has to buy himself if he wants it. It is not the same thing as health insurance for oneself at all.

That mandatory liability insurance is to protect other people, not yourself.

I've seen this repeated over and over again on DU. IT IS NOT THE SAME THING!

[RB TexLa]

19. If the child's parents are divorced with the state handling the terms of the divorce

(no prenuptial agreement) then the state forces one of them to purchase insurance on the child in most cases. Children who's parents are not divorced are granted no such thing from the state.


Added:

You have to show liability insurance when registering a car or getting a license to drive, it's proving to the state that if you cause damage or injury to others you have coverage for at least the bare minimum payments to them. Has nothing to do with taking care of yourself in regards to an accident.

[aikoaiko]

20. Get a driver's license and you must pay for insurance? Never heard of such a thing.

Lots of people have licenses and no cars.