Health Care reform bill reactions

[joe hx]

we're required to get auto insurance

you're not required to get auto insurance because... you're not required to get a car

[Fashion Lad!]

Well, fining people for not buying health care sounds absolutely stupid to me. How are we going to afford it if they just fine us?

http://i.imgur.com/590Ev.png Pretty much sums up my beliefs.

I can (and have) pick this one apart - it's cherry-picking and some comments are pretty slanted. It mixes government regulation with government-run. Folks who "oppose healthcare reform" are a pretty mixed bag. There are:

* People who don't want the status quo changed
* People who want healthcare reform, but don't want the Federal government running healthcare
* People who want healthcare reform, and currently don't want this bill

The thing is - the health insurance industry is already heavily regulated. So to use the USDA, FDA, DOE, etc, as a counter to the status quo is silly.

So the post is a mix of half-truths, smears, yellow journalism, and a smattering of valid points.

I DO support health care reform, just NOT the kind of reform the Dems just enacted. I am in favor of more insurance industry controls and the allowing of insurance to be purchased across state lines but requiring everyone to buy health insurance and penalizing those who don't is just way too much IMO.

The reason why they're requiring everyone to buy health insurance is because they're making the pool larger. By making the pool larger, it should (doesn't mean it will) bring health care costs down for everyone. Right now, a lot of health care costs come from people going into the emergency room and being treated because they don't have health care. The hospital can't just eat the cost, so they raise their rates to make up for it. Now if people can't afford health care insurance, the government will be giving them a tax credit to help offset the cost.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

I

The reason why they're requiring everyone to buy health insurance is because they're making the pool larger. By making the pool larger, it should (doesn't mean it will) bring health care costs down for everyone. Right now, a lot of health care costs come from people going into the emergency room and being treated because they don't have health care. The hospital can't just eat the cost, so they raise their rates to make up for it. Now if people can't afford health care insurance, the government will be giving them a tax credit to help offset the cost.

I know how it works but I still don't like it. I know exactly what the insurers are going to do. Premiums are going to shoot up because now these companies will be required to insure a bunch of people with pre-existing conditions that require constant care.

I'm not hating on people with pre-existing conditions, but if I have say 100 healthy people insured and 146 unhealthy, my pool is not balanced. I'm probably not going to make enough money of the 100 healthy people (who pay premiums but do not use the services frequently) to cover the added cost of paying for care the 146 unhealthy people.

Health insurance, while vital to almost everyone, is still a for profit business and they need to make money to continue to provide us with services. The easiest way to do that is by raising premiums.

On a semi-related note....

What do folks think of all the states filing lawsuits alleging the bill is unconstitutional??

[Rapscallion]

Don't assume just because I don't support "Obamacare" I am a heartless bastard. It's just not true.

Until I saw this, I was quite prepared to to weigh in with a query about why Americans hate each other.

The current shennanigans in the US with machinations used to send the bill back for revote (as I understand it) pretty much say to me that:

"We the people," should have an addition in parentheses saying "who can afford it."

Also, "My fellow Americans," should have the addendum of, "who can keep the poor scum down, since if they can't earn as much then they're not 'one of us'."

I saw your comment and got thinking at stupid o'clock (can't sleep). The shennigans going on right now do give the impression that for political advantage the republicans want to see poor people unable to get healthcare. They'd rather see their countrymen die than aid people in a country that spends more on its military budget than it would cost to produce enough solar panels to cover the world's electricity needs. It's not like the US cannot afford to look after its citizens.

The conclusion is that as someone in a state with national healthcare, it does a bloody good job, but it does need limits on what it offers. The problem with something free is that people can't get enough of it. There are abuses by hypochondriacs etc, but they don't account for the vast number of people treated.

I'd have to say that there's no nation on earth that was better off for having a workforce with poorer health. Overall, I'd say it's a benefit to the state and its citizens.

Rapscallion

[draggar]

This protest wasn't voilent but was considered "threatening" - I think it is actually rather original.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/?fbid=wXEnQ7Zh9bY

McCollum's spokeswoman Maria Reppas said Thursday that the congresswoman's district office in St. Paul received the condom in an envelope dated March 23, along with an anonymous typed letter reading: "Betty McCollum you've been dry f***** by the liberal party."

The condom had been removed from its original packaging and placed in a plastic bag, according to McCollum's district director. McCollum's office said the U.S. Capitol Police and local law enforcement are investigating the package along with another one received Thursday.

[lordlundar]

From what I remember, very few countries at all allow civilians to carry weapons. Those that do, tend to have some weird / obsolete restrictions.

Well, essentially anything in the middle east and southern Africa do allow civilians to carry weapons of any type, and those areas will happily kill someone for being either white and/or American.

[Fryk]

I think I'm going to start a fund. The GTFO Fund for a better America. Basically, everyone working in the US donates $5, we amass the money and by every whiny bitch a plave ticket out of here IF they publicly say "If such and such vote happens, I'm moving!" Or, "If so-and-so gets elected, I'm getting out of here!" Fine. Great. It's a deal, we'll even cover your travel expenses. It'll be worth it to get your whiny ass off my TV screen!

[Wingates_Hellsing]

Well, essentially anything in the middle east and southern Africa do allow civilians to carry weapons of any type, and those areas will happily kill someone for being either white and/or American.

I wouldn't say those areas particularly count. The government may not prohibit it but the people actually running the place don't take to kindly to it. That and they seem pretty happy to kill anyone not them, so, it's kind of a moot point.

Still and all, maybe we can set them up in Cuba! in a few weeks, we won't be hearing any more from them

[Giggle Goose]

What I find funniest is that now some conservatives/Republicans are saying, "Well, we'll just leave the country!"

Don't get my hopes up! LOL

[Talon]

Rep Eric Canto's office was even shot at!
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/...ex.html?hpt=T2

Eric Cantor should have kept his trap shut and waited for the police report:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...id=jn25qg4nj4s

In a news release Thursday, police said the bullet struck at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday. The preliminary investigation showed that "a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window. The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds. There was no other damage to the room, which is used occasionally for meetings by the congressman."

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiw...ocrats-concern

Meanwhile, none of the right-wing bloggers who raced to get this story up -- folks like RedState, Gateway Pundit, Schmuck of Spades, and Daily Caller -- have bothered to update their posts and correct the record for their readers.

How interesting, one might almost think someone *wants* there to be violence.

[Fashion Lad!]

What do folks think of all the states filing lawsuits alleging the bill is unconstitutional??

I agree that it probably is unconstitutional.

The 10th Amendment says:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

According to the lawsuit, the new law violates the rights of the people and the states by imposing a new mandate on individuals to obtain health insurance or face a penalty and imposing on the states new costs by expanding Medicaid, which is a federal-state program.

You may be thinking about the requirement that drivers acquire car insurance, but that is imposed by states, not the feds and you can opt out of the car insurance if you opt out of having a driver’s license.

This may be unconstitutional under the 10th amendment. If the Supreme courts do deem this to be unconstitutional under the 10th amendment, the health care bill will be voided.

[guywithashovel]

I said before that I'm not really comfortable with the requirement to buy insurance, but if I understand correctly, that mandate doesn't go into effect until 2014, and the fines aren't supposed to start until 2016. It's quite possible that those things will either get amended or taken out by then.

[crashhelmet]

I don't get why everyone is freaking out about having to buy insurance. Those of us that have insurance already do. That's how we get it. We buy it.

Do you not want to have medical insurance? Do you want to go into debt from medical bills if you get hurt or sick? Do you want to miss time at work and be at risk of losing your job because you can't afford the antibiotics you may need?

Not having insurance sucks when you've got other bills to pay. It sucks even more if you've got a job that relies on tips like serving or bartending.

Most people that are uninsured are so because they can't afford it. Their employers don't offer it and going through an insurance company is too expensive. This bill is supposed to fix that. To make the cost of insurance for them affordable.

Maybe they're bitching because they just want it to be free.

CH

[guywithashovel]

I'll admit that I may be overreacting. After all, I'm already having taxes deducted from my paycheck for Social Security and Medicare, and unless I'm mistaken, I'm not allowed to opt out of paying those taxes.

I think my mentality on this is related to my opinion on people being required to shovel the snow off of their sidewalks, which I started a thread on several weeks ago. I almost always shovel the snow off of my sidewalk. I just don't like the idea of the city telling me I have to.

In the same manner, I will definitely buy insurance if I can afford it. The thought that I could be fined if I don't just doesn't set very well. Then again, maybe I'm just overreacting. All in all, I just hope the reform works well and can make our lives better.

[Fashion Lad!]

I'll admit that I may be overreacting. After all, I'm already having taxes deducted from my paycheck for Social Security and Medicare, and unless I'm mistaken, I'm not allowed to opt out of paying those taxes.

I think my mentality on this is related to my opinion on people being required to shovel the snow off of their sidewalks, which I started a thread on several weeks ago. I almost always shovel the snow off of my sidewalk. I just don't like the idea of the city telling me I have to.

In the same manner, I will definitely buy insurance if I can afford it. The thought that I could be fined if I don't just doesn't set very well. Then again, maybe I'm just overreacting. All in all, I just hope the reform works well and can make our lives better.

The bill will be pretty useless if not everyone is covered by health insurance. The purpose of the bill is to bring down costs and cover everyone. If not everyone is covered, then essentially the bill will be worthless. So, being upset about being mandated to buy health insurance is being upset with the part that supposed to drive down costs.