[john]

^^ Well good for you. I bought a house when I was ~19 and going to college. Since I didn't live at home anymore I was not covered under our familiy insurance. Coverage was too expensive so I couldn't afford any. My old job didn't offer it so I was without for over 3 years. If there was a reasonable option I would have gotten it.

The problem I see with inusurance is that most people are suckered into buying cadillac policies when they do not need them. I was talking to a partner at my work and he was saying how expensive it was due to this reason. I never get sick (haven't missed a day of school or work since HS and I probably wasn't sick) and only need insurance to cover disasters. At our firm, health partners does not offer such a policy. I probably wouldn't have health insurance if it wasn't paid 100% by my work.

1QUICK4 - inusurance companies do try and force you to go to certain doctors, they call it being in the network. If you want to go to a specialist, you typically have to get a referral by someone in the network to get out. An example of this was when a doctor at Park Nicolate had to refer my mom to the Mayo Clinic.