Bizarro is brought to you today by The Beauty of Art.Here's a fun little scribble that makes light of the multi-billion-dollar crime syndicate commonly called the "insurance industry".
I hate the insurance industry, especially in the field of health. Don't tell my parents, but I haven't had health insurance for almost 10 years. I know it's a risk, but every month that goes by that I don't need it makes me feel like I've robbed those bastards of a little more unearned profit. In the past 10 years, I've spent maybe five thousand dollars on health care. If I'd had insurance, I'd have racked up that total every few months and gotten nothing for it since none of those charges would have eclipsed the deductible. It's the curse of the self employed.
I'm hoping O actually gets his universal health care off the ground this year so I can get covered at a reasonable rate. Nothing fancy, just basic coverage in case my parachute doesn't open and I live to tell the tale.
NOTE: Please don't bother telling me how dangerous it is not to have health insurance, I know, I know. And don't bother telling me how inefficient government health care can be. I know that, too. Fact is, we have the most expensive health care system in the world by far and it is nowhere near the best. Don't believe the horror stories the meat puppets on FoxNews tell you about government health care. As usual, they are duping you and protecting the billionaire fatcats.
18 comments:
As far as the cartoon goes, which is a funny reference to serious subject, if the father cat died (my sympathy to the Mrs.) as the result of choking on a hair ball, the health insurance claim would probably be denied anyway, on the grounds of it being considered a suicide (intentionally ingesting a hazardous substance).
On the subject of medical costs which, according to the far right and unbalanced news network will lead you to believe, up here in Canada, we are all extreme left wing, commie worshiping socialists with free health care. It is true that most medical costs are funded through taxation, but not all. For instance, pharmaceutical drugs, eye exams and eye glass prescriptions aren’t covered. Usually your work place has an extended plan, which you contribute to, in order to cover expenses like these.
The Ontario health care system (each province has it’s own variation) is good for a person, like me, whose wife had medical problems for years, and I earned a low income during that time, which meant expensive medical coverage was out of the question. I don’t know of any inexpensive private health plans for self employed, but I really haven’t looked into any yet. In order to get one, I'd probably need some form of income :)
I hear you, Dan. That has been my soapbox item for the last year. Insurers find any reason to disqualify you through underwriting. You know it's bad that I have considered divorcing Abby, my wife of 24 years, just so she gets 18 more months of coverage under COBRA.
Michael Blackburn
I'm self-employed too but luckily I live in Canada. Our health care system has its problems and as vegetarians we do our best to stay healthy, but even still, without universal health care the minor surgeries that both of my daughters have had would have bankrupted us many times over!
Hi Dan, I just found your Blog. I will enjoy checking this daily. Do you ever light that prop you have in most of your pictures?
OMG, does health insurance really cost that much in USA??! I'm shocked!
Our health care in Finland sounds very much like Canada, and let me assure you it's very efficient.
-W-
@ Dave Barber...
Yes, I smoke five or six cigars a day. Thanks for reading the blog, hope you enjoy it.
@ Anonymous from Finland...
health insurance in the U.S. varies from state to state, but here in NYC, it costs about $700 a month for basic coverage that doesn't pay for anything until your bills are over $5000 in a given year. Then they try to refuse to pay because of all kinds of small print. It's a crime.
I've got a friend who lives in Canada, and she isn't that fond of the socialized medical system they have up there. Unless you have a very serious or life-threatening medical emergency, you have to wait for a very long time.
Our current health care system needs reform, definitely, but I truly believe that a universal health care system would just produce more problems. And no, I'm not a right-wing nutjob; I'm libertarian.
I've always believed that I'd much rather save some money in a bank account for any medical emergency and earn the interest myself, Mr. Piraro.
I just prefer it to giving up my money to people who're going to give me mental anguish, and maybe even no money for when I actually need it. dunno, seems more practical to me.
ur Fan,
Dee Sh
btw,
There are, I've noticed, so many huge responsibilities and hopes and dreams riding on Mr. O's shoulders, Mr. Piraro, that I wonder if he'll be even more persecuted for the slightest mistake, especially by his major supporters in the public.
The man's human, doncha think he might, just might screw up just a bit in his tenure. Would his supporters be nice then? Dunno why, but I was wondering what you thought about it.
ur Fan,
Dee Sh
p.s.: maybe this is not the place for it.
to anyone who says governmental health care is a mistake, i say how is what we have now any better? but people believe anything.
someone wrote into my newspaper saying that we should not have universal health care because it is not a right guaranteed by the constitution, and another writer tried to claim that if Natasha Richardson had been in her skiing accident in the US she would have lived.
someone else wrote into correct the second letter, but as to the first: are there not rights that exist which are not written in the constitution? to whom would you deny health care? obviously this writer had never been seriously ill or had a seriously ill family member.
Yesterday (the velvet rope) you are missing a hidden symbol unless you count the crown around the window on the door, however today you have four hidden symbols though you have a 3. So a hidden symbol from yesterday ended up in todays.
That only happens in a Bizarro-World.
P.S. No I am not dead just busy with the real world.
I agree... I just got laid off by a big Fortune 500 in January. My health insurance was great and the cost per month about $150 with a 300 deductible. I found a job with a city gov't. Their plan costs > $400 per month with a $4000 deductible per person. I'm rooting for a national health care system that will reduce the costs of health care overall for everyone.
I'm Canadian too and like our health care system just fine. Part of it is based on taxation, but like Karl said we still have to pay for drugs, glasses, dentists, etc.
However, it's far from being "free". In Quebec, where I'm from, we pay 52% of our salaries in taxes of various kinds. That's a LOT of money.
The health care system is where the province of Quebec spends most of its financial resources. More than 50% of the budget is actually allocated to the health care system. Despite this, it's in near bancruptcy and not that efficient at all.
The way most of my taxes are wasted through a system that is not at all efficient, I'd say it's a crime as well.
Eiffel
health care in the us is more than a crime...it is murder...the bastards want you to die and they designed a system that not only can kill you it will kill you...think about what that means..
Dan, this is an excellent comic. I love cats so that made this even better.
Did anyone see that John Stossel special that aired a few years back? It exposed some of the problems with socialized medicine that its proponents conveniently ignore.
Here's a link to the first part; the rest of it is included in links on the page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEXFUbSbg1I
You are so right about the criminals in the health insurance agency. I am a landscaper and I have a hurt neck. I was seeing treatment for it and was about to go for an MRI to find out what type of surgery I might need. My boss's wife (who handles the bills) neglected to pay my health insurance bill by accident. Two days late, and they cancelled my plan. Now the company (and all other companies) will not cover my neck problem because it is a "pre-existing injury". I can't work because of it, and I can't afford not to work in order to pay my bills!!!! So I keep working lugging bricks and shoveling dirt, and pass out every once in a while due to a lack of blood traveling to my brain. I'm only 33 and feel I will die young (on my jobsite most likely) because nobody can help me~~~
You are so right about the criminals in the health insurance agency. I am a landscaper and I have a hurt neck. I was seeing treatment for it and was about to go for an MRI to find out what type of surgery I might need. My boss's wife (who handles the bills) neglected to pay my health insurance bill by accident. Two days late, and they cancelled my plan. Now the company (and all other companies) will not cover my neck problem because it is a "pre-existing injury". I can't work because of it, and I can't afford not to work in order to pay my bills!!!! So I keep working lugging bricks and shoveling dirt, and pass out every once in a while due to a lack of blood traveling to my brain. I'm only 33 and feel I will die young (on my jobsite most likely) because nobody can help me~~~
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