Health Policy update....

[physasst]

Obviously this is going to have to be decided by the Supreme Court.

 

If the Supreme Court rules the individual mandate to be unconstitutional, then that still leaves a couple of options: 1) change the law so that each person MAY purchase health insurance; those who choose not to do so must pay a mandatory tax to cover a national fund for the uninsured. 2) the status quo (generally thought not the way to go), or 3) a national health insurance plan, or "Medicare for all".

 

Those who oppose the individual mandate likely do not understand how health insurance works. The only way insurance companies can afford to offer health coverage to the sick is if they also provide coverage to large numbers of healthy individuals. Thus the rationale behind "group health insurance" offered by most employers. Employee health insurance covers a diverse group of individuals, but generally excludes the elderly or those too ill or disabled to work.

 

Agreed completely....You may appreciate this op-ed today from a professor of law at Harvard....

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/opinion/08tribe.html?_r=2

 

I think he makes some very valid points about judicial interpretation, and there seems to be the consensus from the various legal folks that I read, that the ACA will likely be found to be Constitutional....

 

Make no mistake though, the SCOTUS has absolutely NO desire to hear this case. It's a lose-lose case for them, regardless of the decision.

[marilynpac]

The third option in Moonwalks post sounds like socialized medicine.....the problem with socialism you eventually run out of other peoples money.

[BigDuke06]

Obviously this is going to have to be decided by the Supreme Court.

 

If the Supreme Court rules the individual mandate to be unconstitutional, then that still leaves a couple of options: 1) change the law so that each person MAY purchase health insurance; those who choose not to do so must pay a mandatory tax to cover a national fund for the uninsured. 2) the status quo (generally thought not the way to go), or 3) a national health insurance plan, or "Medicare for all".

 

Those who oppose the individual mandate likely do not understand how health insurance works. The only way insurance companies can afford to offer health coverage to the sick is if they also provide coverage to large numbers of healthy individuals. Thus the rationale behind "group health insurance" offered by most employers. Employee health insurance covers a diverse group of individuals, but generally excludes the elderly or those too ill or disabled to work.

 

 

Yep, and you also can lower the cost of cars by buying in mass even if it's a piece of crap foisted upon the public that they don't want! Since when do I or anyone else have to worry about what someone else spends and pay MY money to make their lives better at the behest of a bunch of political whores?????