It’s funny. Everyone wants free education and free healthcare; when’s the last time you REALLY appreciated something you got for free?
Free education? Who cares if you don’t study or get crappy grades? You’re not paying for it. No parent’s can nag you to do better in school or they’ll cut off their funding. There’s no incentive to accel. I know that when I was paying my tuition in grad school that I paid a hell of a lot more attention in class than when I was in school as an undergrad and was getting loans and grants. Something about having to sit down and write those multi-thousand dollar checks shocks you into reality. I wanted my fricken money’s worth.
Similarly, since I am paying for my own health insurance now (full freight) and have a high deductible health plan to qualify for an HSA, I pay the whole nut on doctors visits, not some $10 copay. As such, I don’t waste my time and money (as well as the doctor’s) going to see him if I have a cold or flu…unless it degenerates into something more serious or doesn’t go away within a week or two. If he prescribes something that won’t help me get better faster or is solely for ‘pain’ or something else, I have to weigh whether I can live with the pain until I’m better or if it is worth $50 for the prescription because I’ll be paying for the whole thing.
In other words, when you are spending your own money, you tend to be a little more discriminating than when you are either a) spending someone else’s money or b) getting something for free.
More than anything, I feel that people need to have some ‘skin in the game’ with regards to these things or they’ll typically abuse them.
And, frankly, if you can afford to have a flat screen tv, $100 sneakers and $200 jeans, you can usually afford to buy health insurance, if that’s your priority. I see way too many people complaining that they can’t afford health insurance; it’s not that they can’t afford it, it’s that they’d just rather spend the money on other things. Yeah, me too. I’d rather spend my money on other things than paying for your health insurance because you have different priorities.
