Healthcare and health

We get a lot of calls here in the office about what people's options are when it comes to getting health insurance. A lot of people that go looking for insurance are starting to look because they have a health condition or event that finally makes them realize that it might be nice to have insurance rather then pay out of pocket for enormous health bills. Unfortunately insurance doesn't work that way. Insurance carriers bet on the fact that you won't get sick and use their money. You, on the other hand are betting the opposite. The insurance carrier then charges an amount of money in order to take on that risk and allow them to cover their losses if they lose their side of the bet. Well, what kind of bet maker would want to bet you aren't going to get sick if you already were sick?
The laws have been on the side of the insured, rewarding those who make the bet against the insurance before they get sick. By purchasing a plan that covers your medical expenses prior to a sickness, the insurance company has no choice but to keep paying out their losses as long as you pay to keep the policy in force. The only problem is the cost to wager the bet gets more expensive as you get older and the cost of care goes up as well. A lot of people have their insurance subsidized by their employer. This is great that employers care a lot about their employees, but a disaster when employees leave and are stuck paying the full bill through COBRA when they lost their income from before. You always have the option to buy a new individual plan, but remember that you are starting a new wager, so the insurance company is going to want to play a game where they think they can win, so if you are sick, you are going to have to stick with your COBRA or look into a program called HIPAA when that option goes away.
One good idea to avoid these possible dilemma would be to purchase your own insurance and ask your employer to give you  pay raise to help pay the costs instead of making them pay for a group plan. It may be the last insurance plan you get to buy, so make a good choice.
The new health care law has allowed for people to cancel their insurance and when an illness arises you can be accepted no matter what on a plan with a high deductible as long as you were not insured for 6 months. This seems great! No need to pay insurance and then get insured when the need arises. The danger in doing this is paying extremely high premiums for coverage and still be stuck with a high deductible. If you are healthy and young when you buy a policy it will stay lower and you can have better deductibles and when the going gets tough you will have access to the best doctors and care as opposed to living off the governments' dime.
This loophole will be cleared up in 2014 when the new tax comes into effect for those who chose not to elect coverage.