Is it child abuse to not provide health insurance for your child?
So many parents don't have insurance for their children. Is this not serious neglect on their part? Not "affording" insurance is neglect. Don't have children if you can't pay for them. Insurance is right near the top of the list along with food, shelter, and clothing. Hey, if you can pay "out of pocket" for medical prodedures then you don't need insurance and this is a moot issue for you. $1200/month. I'll assume that's a typo and it's $1200/year, which is what I pay for insurance and it covers my entire, immediate, family.
Politics - 18 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
No, some parents simply cannot afford coverage and do not qualify for assistance. The government of the U.S. is neglect in not mandating health care for all citizens. I would rather have my taxes raised to ensure all children are covered than to pay for an unjust war.
2 :
Depends if one can actually afford the health insurance.
3 :
No.... If the parent is able to provide medical care for the child why bother making an insurance company richer?
4 :
Gee, let me see ... are you a liberal?
5 :
no i don't think it's neglect, i think is bad government. They make it impossible for a household to afford healthcare, even if you have a job and they provide healthcare to carry a family of 3 it is expensive. I think the whole healthcare world is a rip-off. It's too expensive and nothing is covered. So most parents have to pick up the tab..I know for me and my 2 kids it's costing me 1200 dollars a month for health insurance at my job, and it covers nothing, i still have a 500.00 deductible and 1000 co-ins, for each family member. I think the U.S. family is being abused by the government.
6 :
In the context you're asking the question, yes, I would say that it is. But not having health insurance is not the same as not having health care. Many don't have insurance, whether through necessity or choice, but NO ONE is denied necessary care in the United States.
7 :
How can you provide something you have no money for? So are you saying you should live under a bridge so you can afford health insurance?
8 :
People don't necessarily start out not being able to afford kids. You lose your job, your spouse becomes ill, you have a serious accident, and guess what? The kids stay anyway. Remember SCHIP? The bipartisan federal program designed to help the states help those very kids whose parents worked but could no longer afford health insurance for them? Bush vetoed it. Twice. And lied right there in front of the cameras by saying it wouldn't help poor kids. He lied because it was never meant to help poor kids...poor kids have medicaid. This was designed to help kids whose working parents were priced out or lost coverage at work. Fewer businesses are using health care as a benefit. So I suppose we can now add Bush as a child abuser. My heathcare for two healthy people over sixty is $700 a month, I will not be able to afford that after next January. Then we will go into a plan that costs $140 a month, but has very high deductibles and minimal coverage. We will not be eligible for Medicare for five years. Even then, there are deductables and additional fees for good coverage and the drug benefits the Bush administration passed only benefits the drug companies. We do need to do something,
9 :
It is already available. However, if they can afford the insurance and would rather spend it on IPods, designer clothing, etc. and then scream about not being able to afford insurance, they are fools. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created to provide health insurance coverage to children whose families made too much money to qualify for Medicaid but were too poor to pay for private health insurance. The program was created in 1997, and provides federal funds to states, with the states creating and administering individualized programs.
10 :
Depends on the circumstances, was the parent one of those in line to buy the new iPhone, over night for concert tickets, driving the latest $35,000 SUV? Or even to "proud" to take any job? If, so, then it is close to neglect to provide for ones selfish desires and not provide adequate health care.
11 :
I would differentiate between "abuse" and "neglect". To me, abuse is the willful infliction of harm. Neglect is the failure to avert harm. Within that context, to not provide health insurance is to greatly increase the likelihood of neglect. Naturally, the follow-up question is to consider how someone concerned for the welfare of a child should act. Caution should be employed in such activities. There are knee-jerk reactions in the name of helping children that I believe may actually harm many of them.
12 :
The simple ACT of CONCEIVING children, if you aren't going to be responsible for them, is ethically and morally corrupt and constitutes a crime against not only children, but against your fellow man who is then forced to take responsibility for the outcome of your irresponsible behavior. Irresponsibility and refusal to take responsibility for your own actions is the root source of Socialism and the basic cause of tyrannical governments who must DICTATE your behavior, because you didn't do YOUR job. If you want FREEDOM, you MUST be responsible for your own actions.
13 :
I don't think it's serious neglect. Alot of full time jobs do not offer their employees insurance and finding a policy on your own can be really expensive if it's any good. There are alot of insurance policies out there that you can buy for little money, but they tend to not cover alot of things and will fight with you over every claim you try to make. Most of the time, unless you get your insurance through your place of employment, it simply isn't worth the hassle/expense of getting a policy on your own. The truth is that health insurance companies don't care about the health of you and your children, they only care about the bottom line. What is needed here is a reform of our health care system, not punishing parents for their inability to find and afford good health insurance. Medical care should be available to everyone for low cost, not just the people who can afford insurance, or the people who can pay out of pocket. I'm sure it's very easy for you to sit there and criticize everyone else for not being able to afford health insurance, when you can get your policy for only $1200 a year. Not everyone has that option, and not everyone is so lucky as you.
14 :
It is absolutely something all children should have. It is necessary to their health and well-being. . . . . . . You pay $1200 a year? Whaaaattt! You are a lucky duck then. The average cost for health insurance, family, is $500 a month. That is the middle of the road plan. Are you paying for the entire amount, or just a percentage as your employer pays the rest? My mother has been in the health insurance business for 25 years... a family plan - 100% of the plan - hasn't been $1,200 a year since the early 80's!
15 :
Insurance was invented by criminals and is legalize robbery today. When government make insurance mandatory they give a "business" a gun to hold to the citizens heads. The citizen must then pay whether they can afford it or not and must pay even if they can afford to pay out of pocket for a doctor. This country has overstepped it's bounds when it comes to laws governing families for many years. The only reason it is allowed is because they have not used the same power they have on the rich as they do the poor. In rich families you will find as much or more actual child abuse but children are not taken from them. NO. NOT BUYING "INSURANCE" IS NOT ABUSE OR NEGLECT.
16 :
Insurance for me is $650 a MONTH! And I can't afford it.
17 :
NOTHING is free someone will pay the bill. if its YOUR child,YOU should pay the bill NOT TAX PAYERS this entitlement sh!t is so over played by left wingers,but then they also believe that the gubment should hand out welfare checks to lazy bums,crack heads,and women who want to have multiple babies by multiple baby daddies. PAY AS YOU GO,OR,,DON'T FRIGGIN GO
18 :
Child abuse?! Not providing health insurance for your child is the AMERICAN WAY!!!!! Why do you hate America?
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