|
> I take it you haven't ever interacted with the IRS beyond filing the standard deduction? Or interacted with Medicare/Medicaid? raises hand I have! I've actually worked a shocking amount with the IRS, not because I'm a criminal but because I'm working class and wasn't educated on how to file taxes more complicated than a 1040-EZ, presumably because it was never expected I would make that much money or own my own business. Strictly my experience, I would much, much rather deal with the IRS than my insurance company. Yes, they're intimidating at first, but ultimately every person I've worked with both at the IRS and my state agency has been calm, professional, and frankly to a degree I found surprising, extremely understanding about how badly I fucked up my taxes on a number of occasions. I was never treated like a criminal; they explained what I did wrong, how they found out, what I owed, and how to prevent those issues in the future. And I was given interest-free payment plans with a one-time administrative cost to setup, that I now pay monthly. I'll be fully 0'd out in about 2 years. This contrasts sharply with my experience with my insurance company! My insurance company tries to get out of paying for every last thing they can manage. My dental insurance has a maximum pay out of a measly $5,000 per year, which seems completely backwards to every other insurance I have ever had, but what do I know. You know how fast you can crush 5 grand in dental work? And paradoxically it still has co-pays, so apparently I'm paying so they will cover most of some bills, up to a predetermined maximum. Additionally, since I own my own business, I do have the luxury of choosing my own insurance, which most people can't, and for that luxury I pay simply princely sums each month to insure both myself and my spouse. I've picked the best for my area (at time of comment) and have to spend many many days of unpaid labor every year re-evaluating that choice, both because circumstances and networks change coverages, and because every single year my insurance goes up despite both of us, by and large, being quite healthy, and I get fucking annoyed about it and want to see if I'm getting my money's worth. I wouldn't say I am by a long shot, but the alternatives cover less, and cost more, so I'm still paying. Frankly, and I don't mean this as a personal attack against you, but I have to assume people who talk like you have never interacted directly with the IRS, and are instead absorbing that opinion through the same cultural osmosis I did, because I too was initially terrified to the bone when I got my first letter from them several years after starting my company, and honestly, they are incredibly over-hyped. The only way to truly get the IRS to take you to to task is to, for years on end, purposely try and weasel out of paying taxes. I would LOVE, absolutely LOVE, the ability to get my healthcare funded via an organization templated off the IRS. |
> - Have to deal with filing claims, which ultimately becomes an additional expense, since chances are you have to pay someone to do this for you.
> - Get your money later instead of now.
> - Have to keep meticulous notes in case you ever get audited by the insurance companies, who can refuse to issue payments if your notes don't meet their standards.
This description could be lifted up and dropped in to be describing my tax situation each year. Meanwhile, I've never interacted with the kind of nightmarish insurance companies that some people have, so I'm strictly comparing two relatively painful bureaucracies, not nightmare stories about either one.