I've heard lots of arguments about why we should have universal healthcare and about how it works in other countries. I wanted to share a thought I had an experience I went through that I've never heard.
I suffer from depression. It's serious enough that I take an SNRI, a mood stabilizer and a stimulant every morning to keep me going. Most days are fine. The medication is expensive. Without insurance they would cost me more than $100 a month.
So let's say I lost my job and my health insurance. I'm a father of 3 kids who scraps by and could no way afford to pay that with whatever money I have. It can take 90 days or more to get insurance at a new job and who knows how long to get hired.
So now I have to figure out how to deal with the withdrawals. I would suffer serious mental and physical health issues should I just stop taking them because I ran out and can't afford to fill them.
So let's go a little deeper. As a father of 3, let's say worst case I have to stop to eat and have a roof over my kids heads. I would spiral into a deep depression. I could say terrible things from the emotional imbalance. Things that could permanently damage my children's emotional well-being. Depression is often inherited so they would already be predisposed and this would just be more baggage.
Furthermore, I would have to try to interview going through all of this while trying to appear more competent than the next guy. The added stress would add to my depression. I could potentially lose my drive to find a job or give my children attention. Again compounding their future mental health.
Let's say again in the worst case scenario, I end up suicidal and end up in a hospital or even dead. My kids are traumatized and my wife would be dealing with this as well. They could end up in state care for who knows how long.
Now what some view as my problem because I can't afford health care, the tax payer is covering my medical issues and my childrens future mental health issues and the cost of them going to foster care or something. Now paying the $50 a month for my meds sounds a lot better.
It may sound far fetched but how real could it be. What if I killed people. Now we have a much larger group of people affected and it would cost the state much more. Thanks for reading if you did and sorry it's so long.