The purpose of insurance is to protect against an unforseen event. If you are ignorant of an existing condition, then the outcome is unforseen, thus purchasing insurance BEFORE you are ever diagnosed with a condition is the whole purpose of being insured. We don't penalize people for having an existing condition. We penalize people for not purchasing insurance as protection against the unknown. Rather, people think that health insurance is an entitlement that they should have access to after they get sick....yet they don't want to pay anything into the pool while they are healthy. For some reason, people feel like they are being ripped off when they pay premiums but don't have to use the coverage.
When your employer gives you free insurance or a huge discount for having insurance while employed, that is a benefit, but it's not really insurance in the sense that it is practically free (to you) and it is guaranteed, which means there was no incentive for you to purchase it in anticipation of protecting yourself against an unforseen event. The sad thing is, that's what we Americans have gotten used to in the health insurance industry. If health insurance was never tied to employment in the first place, with all of the rules and regs attached to that, we wouldn't be in this boat in the first place.
When we buy life insurance, we do it to protect our loved ones from a financial catastrophy created by an unknown event (the date when we are going to die). We should purchase health insurance in the same manner - to financially protect ourselves from the unknown event of when we are going to get sick.
Once we get sick and our risk becomes known to the insurance company, it's too late! The same is true for life insurance...ie....you can't just go out and buy it after you've been diagnosed with terminal cancer. ...you have to buy it before you know that you are terminally ill.
Although I feel bad for my sister, I have warned her many many times that if she wants to retire early, she should insure herself instead of taking advantage of the benefits. She chose to go with the benefits, and now she may be tied to work. That was her CHOICE. There's always the Colorado Risk Pool, Cover Colorado to fall back on, albeit it is a bit more expensive than the individual market, but it is guaranteed issue.
I don't see anything wrong with that...she presents a higher risk to the carrier, therefore, she should probably have to pay a higher premium. Had she taken my advice and purchased her own insurance before she was diagnosed, then she would have the lower rates. That's just the way it goes.
