Is Original Medicare really so awful?

[Chuckanut]

I am frugal (some say cheap) in most areas of my life, but health insurance is not one of them. It isn't worth the risk.

I agree. I would gladly give up one or two lattes every week to pay for better health insurance. (I don't actually drink the things, but you get my point.) When I was retiring, my then 80+ friend told me "Chuckanut, whatever you do, make sure you sign up for the best health insurance you can afford." For the first 6 years I paid more than I needed to, but now as I see myself waiting for knee replacement surgery and others my age (and often younger, much younger) go through expensive medical treatment, I'm glad I 'lost' money during those years.

Now, if we could just figure out why medicines and medical procedures cost so much money in the USA and are so much cheaper in other 1st world countries, we might be able to worry less about insurance costs.