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drunksunflower said:

I have fairly comprehensive health insurance through work, but I would *never* claim anything to do with depression or anything through that policy - too risky (and some policies don't fully cover any medical conditions like depression or PTSD).

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This is one area that has improved in the U.S. I remember in the past when filling out paperwork for a new job it included past medical history. I always debated if I should include depression and the meds I was taking or not. Even though the group health insurance was never denied, one still had to list any illness (including psychiatric) they had, so everyone whose hands the paperwork passed (bosses, secretaries, etc.) could see that information. Not real secure.

Now with the new HIPPA law on medical privacy, medical history cannot be asked and medical information has to be handled ~very~ carefully. I know from my job in Workers Comp that anything I saw re: other health conditions an injured worker had that were unrelated to the reported injury could not be relayed to ANYONE, including the employer.

If I'm not mistaken, keeping HIV/Aids info private was the forerunner of this. I for one am VERY grateful for the HIPPA enactment.

On the flip side, the only way in this country to have good health insurance is to have a job that includes this as a benefit. There is still a cost, but mostly paid by the employer. There have been times I stayed with a particular job JUST for the insurance due to my medications and pdoc visits.

HOWEVER, this absolutely precludes those of us who can't work; not because we don't want to or are "lazy" (as I've heard uneducated people who don't live with disabilities sometimes say) but because we are ill!!!

Which goes right back to Niko's original post. Well done, Niko. And yep, Davey, follow the money. On capitalism vs socialism, I'll plead the fifth.