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Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
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tara73
carseat nerd
Member since 11/09 3669 total posts
Name:
Buttercup
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by LittleDiva
i dont know much about it, but reading one of the posters comments about how people get sent bills close to a million dollars is part of the problem!
these doctors/hospitals are getting ridiculous with what they are charging. i remember my friend asked once for a detailed bill from when she went to the hospital and they charged her ridiculous amounts for things like ASPRIN!! they might as well have charged her for breathing in the air. i have such a problem with how much things are costing. again, im not educated in this particular thing, so i dont know if they charge you all this to make up money that they are not getting from people who dont have insurance?? but i would hope that maybe somewhere down the road the bills would go down!!
It's all cyclical.
The hospitals charge more because the insurers/Medicare/Medicaid cut rates and their costs keep going up (pharm, salaries, electric bills etc) Then there is the uninsured population, malpractice insurance, etc etc etc. The insurers raise premium and claim it is because hospital bills are going up, yet they're reducing the amount they're paying out to the hospitals. The insurers routinely deny things making us and medical providers go through this convoluted appeals process. Then the Gov't's got to get their piece in, they make the insurers pay a surcharge on top of every hospital bill to care for those uninsured. Costs go up again. And again, everywhere. Drug companies raise costs to consumers because their costs go up etc. And we, as the general population, are stuck on little wheels like guinea pigs getting nowhere but screwed.
Like I said, it's a big giant clusterfunk!
Message edited 3/29/2012 1:51:23 PM.
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Posted 3/29/12 1:50 PM  |
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luvmyReese
Hello Kitty
Member since 1/08 7542 total posts
Name:
Catt
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
this is why a 1 pain killer is $75 @ hospital.
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| Posted 3/29/12 2:14 PM |
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MrsC614
My little angel is here <3
Member since 7/09 2851 total posts
Name:
Gina
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by Xelindrya
Posted by JenniferEver
I think what's missing in your story Veronica, is that when your little girl needs dental surgery, you're paying for it. What the larger and more costly issue is that many people with health insurance show up to Emergency rooms all over and they are NOT paying for it.
What's a better way to solve that issue?
There we agree. The solution is the problem. Giving the uninsured a choice is one thing to force the choice is another.
like I said.. i agree with what they were thinking but not this part of it.
I have no issue paying premium for premium care. You get what you pay for. If I took the Federal plan I'd expect subpar barely clinic type care. If I pay my premiums (like I do) I expect a higher end service. I realize I pay for that privilage.
but see, the problem is that they already have a choice and instead are not insured. so when they get into a major car accident, become a critical trauma, get rushed to a trauma center, require major surgery to save their lives, hospitalization, etc.. guess who is paying for it?? US! i am an ER nurse. i can tell you how many people come through the door every day with minor complaints, and when you ask "why didn't you go to your doctor for your cold for 1 week", most times the answer always is "i have insurance issues, or, i have no insurance. " so now, not only are they paying for a medical exam, they are paying to get triaged, paying for medications, etc. and really they are not paying for it, because we are. i agree with the plan that everyone be required to have insurance. if you can't afford your own personal insurance, then you should be forced to at least pay for some sort of government sponsered insurance, and maybe pay on a sliding scale. you are required to have insurance for your car. you should also be required to have insurance on your life.
ETA: this issue with our ER's is so bad, that it is becoming dangerous. because there are too many people who come for non emergent issues, and then when the true emergency comes in, there is no one to take it, or no room, or not enough resources, etc. it's very scary.
Message edited 3/29/2012 5:27:44 PM.
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| Posted 3/29/12 5:26 PM |
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Pumpkin1
LIF Adult
Member since 12/05 3715 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
As an aside: The poll should be renamed "Do you agree with the mandate?" because I find it highly unlikely that anyone on this board is well versed of the Constitution to know whether its constitutional or not. Heck, the lower courts were split, so even the judiciary can't decide!!!!
I'm a lawyer and I won't even tackle that question.
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| Posted 3/29/12 6:07 PM |
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KCCL
LIF Adolescent
Member since 6/11 641 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
This has been an issue in the US since Theodore Roosevelt's administration and sadly I do not think the current administration will make any strides towards universal healthcare.
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| Posted 3/29/12 7:29 PM |
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mamabear
LIF Adult
Member since 3/08 4539 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
in addition to all the monetary issues associated with insurance, here is another issue that i become particularly sensitive to last year.
i was extremely sick last may. as an adult, i had a 103 fever with no other symptoms except a stiff neck. went to first med. they couldn't figure it out. i did not want to go to an ER because i know it is expensive and torture with a long wait. i went home, and my fever continued and i was convulsing. eventually, i called my dad to take me while hubby stayed with the kids. i went at 8 pm. after midnight, i still was not seen. i was sitting there shaking. but the woman with a backache who just wanted pain meds was. now, she was a nice lady, and i am sensitive to back pain because i have serious spinal issues and have had 3 spinal surgeries, but yet never went to an er for my back, and wouldnt other than for losing feeling in limbs. but she did because she had no insurance and wanted pain meds. after midnight, when they said they didn't know when they'd get to me, i told my dad i was too uncomfortable. i wanted to go home and would only come back if i was on my death bed because it was torture to wait there. he took me home. i had convulsions in my bed all night long. at 6am dh demanded to take me back, and i was making no sense. my fever was up to 105. they took me this time right away and put me in quarantine because they were afraid of bacterial meningitis. that's what it took for me to be seen. turns out, i had lyme disease. my fever went up to 106, i needed spinal taps because for a day they thought it was bacterial meningitis, and was in seriously terrible condition. i still had enormous medical bills because i couldnt choose in network doctors, or have a say in treatments. every step of the way was a horror show and i am terrified of ever really needing help. i have said i will never ever go to an ER again unless it is literally life or death. I was left for hours without even tylenol when my fever was 102 and ignored. my mom and husband were the ones soaking me in ice cubes and wet cloths when my fever was 106. the nurses couldn't take an accurate reading until my dh demanded they took it rectally and finally realized how high my fever was and you heard them freak out and order cooling blankets. they had broken thermometers, nurses who didn't know how to take temps, and didnt put a hand on me to feel how warm i was. i had my own thermometer i brought and it was 106 when they were leaving me alone. i honestly thought i was going to die with them not paying attention. that's our medical system. even with supposedly good insurance
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| Posted 3/29/12 10:20 PM |
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bookworm
Two Little Rosebuds
Member since 8/09 2106 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by Xelindrya
Posted by Pumpkin1
The way I see the healthcare issue is like I see education. Everyone agrees that everyone is entitled to free education, no matter what you socio-economic category is? I mean, just because your poor doesn't mean that you don't deserve to be educated, right? Why is healthcare any different?
Yes but you can home school without paying a fine right? Can you imagine a per child fine for the Duggers?!
That's not a logical analogy.
You can home school your kid, but you still have to pay property taxes. There are consequences for opting out of that.
You have to buy the insurance, but you can choose not to go to the doctor.
Message edited 3/30/2012 6:15:10 AM.
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| Posted 3/30/12 6:14 AM |
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bookworm
Two Little Rosebuds
Member since 8/09 2106 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
I don't think it's constitution to force people to patronize a commercial industry like health insurance just by virtue of being alive. We do it with car insurance because you can opt out of car ownership. Just like we let the gov't take naked x-rays at the airport because you can opt out of flying. You can't opt out of breathing.
However, the idea of socializing an institution that everyone must use at some point is not as foreign here in the US as certain wings of the political spectrum would make it seem. We do force everyone to get an education. The gov't took that freedom from parents. Even to home school, you need to meet certain requirements. If it were single payer (which is a political third rail) it would be more constitutional than it is to make people contribute to the profits of private HMOs. 30% of those premiums go to shareholders rather than medical care.
And regardless of people who think it's wrong that they should have to pay for the health care of the poor people and illegal immigrants, you already are. So what's the plan?
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| Posted 3/30/12 6:22 AM |
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tara73
carseat nerd
Member since 11/09 3669 total posts
Name:
Buttercup
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by mamabear
in addition to all the monetary issues associated with insurance, here is another issue that i become particularly sensitive to last year.
I would have loved for you to be able to share your story with a person on my FB feed who was preaching about the "superiority" of our healthcare system. I find nothing "superior" about your story. You shouldn't have had to go through all of that, that's awful.
Maybe if people had access to healthcare they would stop clogging up our ERs for things like a backache.
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| Posted 3/30/12 8:54 AM |
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Eireann
Two ladies and a gentleman!
Member since 5/05 12165 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by Pumpkin1
As an aside: The poll should be renamed "Do you agree with the mandate?" because I find it highly unlikely that anyone on this board is well versed of the Constitution to know whether its constitutional or not. Heck, the lower courts were split, so even the judiciary can't decide!!!!
I'm a lawyer and I won't even tackle that question.
Yes, you're right. After all, if the answer was that simple, what would be the need for the court case? I had thought of phrasing it "do you think it's RIGHT..." and then, I don't know what happened...
My gut instinct is to say that it is NOT right. How should the government be able to force me to get into a private contract with a private company? So, I guess the argument is if they can force me to do this, what else do they have the right to mandate? Where does it end, etc... I don't know what the precedents are for this, if any. I don't think education qualifies as I believe that is not a federal government issue but a state one.
Either way, we can all agree this situation is a mess...
ETA: I do have health insurance which, of course, I was not coerced to buy.
Message edited 3/31/2012 12:12:32 PM.
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| Posted 3/30/12 9:45 AM |
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mamabear
LIF Adult
Member since 3/08 4539 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by tarabelle99
Posted by mamabear
in addition to all the monetary issues associated with insurance, here is another issue that i become particularly sensitive to last year.
I would have loved for you to be able to share your story with a person on my FB feed who was preaching about the "superiority" of our healthcare system. I find nothing "superior" about your story. You shouldn't have had to go through all of that, that's awful.
Maybe if people had access to healthcare they would stop clogging up our ERs for things like a backache.
It's really a mess. ERs are awful. My mom's doctor who is a great doctor has told her to never go to an ER. He said call me first, if it's a true emergency, I will meet you there and take you on myself. The ERs are so clogged and the nurses and staff are so used to bullsht cases, that they almost don't even pay attention to you. ERs should be for real emergencies--not colds, or early stage flu, or backaches. And there is just so much waste. When I had gone to first med the same day/day before, they did a chest xray and urine sample to rule out pneumonia and a UTI. They were negative. The ER made me have the same tests again "just in case". It's really absurd..
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| Posted 3/30/12 10:13 AM |
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Blu-ize
Plan B is Now Plan A
Member since 7/05 32475 total posts
Name:
Susan
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
My doctor also has told me not to go to the ER. My brother almost died because of an inadequate ER. I call my doc even on a Sunday eve.
People don't want to pay for intangibles. Insurance is an intangible until they need it. If there was a plan that people could afford on a sliding scale, that would be a good start. I'm sure more people would get insured if it didn't cost the rent.
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| Posted 3/30/12 10:32 AM |
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lucyloo
nope
Member since 1/06 9758 total posts
Name:
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....
Message edited 3/4/2013 12:28:08 PM.
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| Posted 3/30/12 10:44 AM |
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sunnyflies
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1757 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
This has certainly been an interesting series of posts and has given me a lot of insight into the healthcare system and people's thoughts about what should be done. Thanks Tarabelle and others who took the time to post such detailed descriptions of the inside of medical billing and ER practices.
As for me, I am in favor of universal healthcare. When DH and I were younger we didn't buy insurance and as a result had to pay for my husband's surgery and hospitalization out of pocket when he unexpectedly needed an operation. It sobered us up about the hard realities of the cost of health care. Although it was some years before we could afford coverage, I kept pushing him to buy it. Fortunately by the time we had our first child we also had insurance.
From what I have been reading here it sounds as if some on here don't have medical insurance and - like us years ago - would opt not to buy it. Not having it seems fine when you don't need it, but when you do, the picture changes entirely. A major car accident can quickly run a bill into the many hundreds of thousands (I met someone who's ran $750,000). Most people could never pay such an astronomical bill off by themselves.
A sick newborn can also create huge bills, and if the child has ongoing problems like my sister's, those bills never cease. What if a child develops Juvenile Diabetes at 2 like my cousin's DD did? Or brain cancer at 12 as did the daughter of a friend? Or you, your DH or significant other gets diagnosed with cancer, heart problems or something else serious? What then? Life as you know it falls apart emotionally, physically and financially. Add to that the possibility of a loss of salary from work as you might have to stop a while. You can forget self-paying big medical bills because it may not be possible. Think of what that will do to your credit.
Having the safety net of health insurance would be terribly important so that you don't lose your house, car and everything else - including your sanity - as you struggle to pay those bills. Believe me, and I am speaking from current experience having just been diagnosed with breast cancer, there are going to be plenty of out of pocket expenses you will need to cover also that will not be covered by even the best medical insurance - co-pays can really rack up, travel to and from the various doctors, lunches while there, etc.
I agree with whoever said we should all be paying an extra 2 - 3% so that everyone was covered. Other counties do that successfully and it works. Family members have used the system in several countries and were impressed by how well they ran.
Just think, if we had a government funded Medicare type program that covered decent basic care, everyone would benefit. People would have regular doctors to go to for preventative care and ERs would no longer be used like walk-in clinics for small things or have to handle people who show up with serious illnesses that should have been treated earlier. We would have a healthier population overall and our stressed ERs could be used as they were intended, for emergencies.
Like Medicare, people could opt to buy extra "medigap" coverage to take care of what isn't covered as they saw fit or as they could afford.
Our healthcare system doesn't work now. Some of us have insurance, many don't, and not by choice. A relative lost her job and is on unemployment in another state and I'm covering her COBRA because she can't. She might have died of a massive stroke in December if I hadn't (her words) because she wouldn't have gone to a doctor without insurance. And, when she might have finally gone or been taken to an ER, it would have cost some hospital a fortune to treat her and who knows what would have been left of her by that time. She might have suffered enormous damage had she actually had the stroke that was surgically prevented by her doctor.
My daughter, who has insurance now, didn't have it after college when our family insurance policy dropped her, so we had to buy her some. Thanks to President Obama, if that was now, she could have stayed on our insurance until she got a job. The diabetic 2 yr old I mentioned above, who's now grown, can no longer be denied insurance because of her pre-existing condition, also thanks to our President. Plus, thanks to him, health insurance can no longer impose arbitrary caps on payouts like some I used to have - had we gone over $100,000 on one we'd have been SOL.
However, I'm worried. Those crucial changes could be lost if this law is found to be unconstitutional.
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| Posted 3/30/12 3:33 PM |
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jellybean78
:)
Member since 8/06 13103 total posts
Name:
Mommy
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
I hate ER's with a passion. HATE them. They freak me out and really I don't know why someone would go for a cold or pain meds. To me waiting in an ER is a form of torture BUT I know for a fact many uninsured people use them the way someone with insurance would use a regular doctor. It's a cheap/free way of them getting meds/being diagnosed with minor ailments, etc.
That said IMO ER's are crucial..but they should be used ONLY for emergencies. If they were to be used the way they SHOULD be the doctors, nurses, etc. would have more time to evaluate the truly crucial patients with care.
We need SOME type of universal healthcare that is affordable for all. Charge on a sliding scale basis. I don't see the problem with this especially in this day and age where people have no problems shelling out $$ for smart phones, cable, etc. Priorities are all screwed up. Health insurance should be more important than car insurance and definitely moreso than having a cable or Iphone. Those that are truly unable to afford it can continue medicaire/medicaid. I'm talking about those truly struggling, the elderly with limited incomes and no way of earning extra.
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| Posted 3/30/12 3:53 PM |
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emilylives
biking
Member since 12/09 2163 total posts
Name:
Emily
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by bookworm
I don't think it's constitutional to force people to patronize a commercial industry like health insurance just by virtue of being alive. We do it with car insurance because you can opt out of car ownership. Just like we let the gov't take naked x-rays at the airport because you can opt out of flying. You can't opt out of breathing.
However, the idea of socializing an institution that everyone must use at some point is not as foreign here in the US as certain wings of the political spectrum would make it seem. We do force everyone to get an education. The gov't took that freedom from parents. Even to home school, you need to meet certain requirements. If it were single payer (which is a political third rail) it would be more constitutional than it is to make people contribute to the profits of private HMOs. 30% of those premiums go to shareholders rather than medical care.
And regardless of people who think it's wrong that they should have to pay for the health care of the poor people and illegal immigrants, you already are. So what's the plan?
so well said.
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| Posted 3/30/12 11:57 PM |
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MrsC614
My little angel is here <3
Member since 7/09 2851 total posts
Name:
Gina
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by mamabear
in addition to all the monetary issues associated with insurance, here is another issue that i become particularly sensitive to last year.
i was extremely sick last may. as an adult, i had a 103 fever with no other symptoms except a stiff neck. went to first med. they couldn't figure it out. i did not want to go to an ER because i know it is expensive and torture with a long wait. i went home, and my fever continued and i was convulsing. eventually, i called my dad to take me while hubby stayed with the kids. i went at 8 pm. after midnight, i still was not seen. i was sitting there shaking. but the woman with a backache who just wanted pain meds was. now, she was a nice lady, and i am sensitive to back pain because i have serious spinal issues and have had 3 spinal surgeries, but yet never went to an er for my back, and wouldnt other than for losing feeling in limbs. but she did because she had no insurance and wanted pain meds. after midnight, when they said they didn't know when they'd get to me, i told my dad i was too uncomfortable. i wanted to go home and would only come back if i was on my death bed because it was torture to wait there. he took me home. i had convulsions in my bed all night long. at 6am dh demanded to take me back, and i was making no sense. my fever was up to 105. they took me this time right away and put me in quarantine because they were afraid of bacterial meningitis. that's what it took for me to be seen. turns out, i had lyme disease. my fever went up to 106, i needed spinal taps because for a day they thought it was bacterial meningitis, and was in seriously terrible condition. i still had enormous medical bills because i couldnt choose in network doctors, or have a say in treatments. every step of the way was a horror show and i am terrified of ever really needing help. i have said i will never ever go to an ER again unless it is literally life or death. I was left for hours without even tylenol when my fever was 102 and ignored. my mom and husband were the ones soaking me in ice cubes and wet cloths when my fever was 106. the nurses couldn't take an accurate reading until my dh demanded they took it rectally and finally realized how high my fever was and you heard them freak out and order cooling blankets. they had broken thermometers, nurses who didn't know how to take temps, and didnt put a hand on me to feel how warm i was. i had my own thermometer i brought and it was 106 when they were leaving me alone. i honestly thought i was going to die with them not paying attention. that's our medical system. even with supposedly good insurance
being an ER nurse, i can tell you that this is a huge problem. you should have been a priority with the symptoms that you had. when we triage patients, we triage based on acuity and have to keep in mind everything else going on in the ER. the ER's are clogged with people who should not be there: people who are drug seeking, people who are drunk. people who use the ER as their primary doctor, people who are there for a toothache. it takes the focus away from the true emergencies. we have people who come in week after week who are frequent fliers. it shouldn't be this way. people abuse the ER system, and the result of that is the people who TRULY need to be in the ER are delayed care, because the ER is busting at the seems. unless you are critically unstable ie: car accident and you are on deaths door, you are going to be forced to wait for care, sometimes for hours and hours on end, just like you experienced. it's very sad and unfortunate. i can tell you from being on the other side, that it is so hard to see everyone, and take care of everyone at the same time. something has to give in our healthcare system. private insurances dictate how we practice and how we are reimbursed. people with no insurance have no where else to go, because an ourside doctor will not see them without insurance, because they know they won't get paid and that's all they care about. this is why i am in favor of everyone being mandated to have insurance. whether it is private insurance, and if you can't afford that, then it should be government sponsered insurance that you pay on a sliding scale based on your income. and then there is medicaid which is a whole seperate issue, which is severly abused in this country. i have seen people dressed to the nines, who smoke at $10 a pack, and then they whip out their medicaid card. our healthcare system is horrible. and ER should be for emergencies only. urgent care centers are super important and we need to see more of them pop up. but the problem with them is the same as private doctors too: they require insurance. like pm pediatrics for example: you have to have insurance, or you can forget about going there. soemthing has to give in this country. The hospitals are flooded with patients who are admitted, and then the regular floors are full, so then we have no choice but to keep the admitted patients in the ER until a bed is free upstairs, which could take DAYS! this floods our ER even more, and takes up alot of the nurses and doctors time, and focus. it's time for a change, and fast. i am sorry that you had the experience that you had. it's really unfortunate that it happened, but this is the reality of what's going on with our healthcare system. it sucks.
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| Posted 3/31/12 11:18 AM |
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sunnyflies
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 1757 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Single payer for basic service does seem the rightway, like Medicare.
But something needs to be done about doctors and medical insurance companies billing practices. For example take three recent claims of mine:
1. The billed amount was $135.00 yet the plan paid the doctor $212.00 and I had to pay $53. Why was the doctor paid more than he billed?
2. The bill was for $240, the plan paid $88, I paid $22 and it was considered settled. Why? 88 + 22 = 110, not 240. If the doctor was agreeable to settle for 110, why didn't he bill for that in the first place?
3. A bill from a hospital was for $4,757. I paid a $20 co-pay and the insurance paid the hospital $1,582.29 because of some in net work contract between them. That's a hell of a difference - over $3100. Seems to me hospitals are wildly over charging for services if they are willing to settle for roughly a third of what they billed.
If I had not had insurance I would have been billed the full $4757. Just think about that, those of you with no insurance. It seems extremely unfair.
Maybe if we had universal insurance hospitals would have to bill more realistically and costs would drop.
Message edited 3/31/2012 11:54:03 AM.
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| Posted 3/31/12 11:49 AM |
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BlackJack96
LIF Infant
Member since 6/08 245 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
I think the answer is complex. I'm not a constitutional scholar so I have no idea if it "truly" is constitutional (and judging that it will be a close vote, it's something open to opinion).
From a basic standpoint the idea of the government "making" you buy something sounds scary. In theory this could be used to justify many things.
However, I think we have a major problem in this country with regards to healthcare. Currently there's another mandate called EMTALA which states that if you show up at the ED you must get care irrespective of your ability to pay. So in my mind if you're going to mandate that care MUST be provided, you have to have a way to pay for it so some sort of health system that everyone must participate in is needed. Now you can argue that "its not your problem" if someone else shows up in the ED and can't pay. However, the costs are driven up so those who have insurance can pay for those who can't. Since we're paying for this anyway, might as well have some mechanism to pay into the pot.
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| Posted 3/31/12 4:56 PM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by bookworm
I don't think it's constitution to force people to patronize a commercial industry like health insurance just by virtue of being alive. We do it with car insurance because you can opt out of car ownership. Just like we let the gov't take naked x-rays at the airport because you can opt out of flying. You can't opt out of breathing.
I think it's just a strict vs. loose interpretation. The healthcare is a large part of our economy - therefore interstate commerce that can be regulated.
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| Posted 3/31/12 5:57 PM |
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bookworm
Two Little Rosebuds
Member since 8/09 2106 total posts
Name:
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
Posted by Erica
Posted by bookworm
I don't think it's constitution to force people to patronize a commercial industry like health insurance just by virtue of being alive. We do it with car insurance because you can opt out of car ownership. Just like we let the gov't take naked x-rays at the airport because you can opt out of flying. You can't opt out of breathing.
I think it's just a strict vs. loose interpretation. The healthcare is a large part of our economy - therefore interstate commerce that can be regulated.
Hmm, I just can't think of one other situation in which you HAVE to do business with a private company. Like, if you wanted to pull a Thoreau and live in the woods Walden-style. You pay cash for the property: no insurance, no financing. You don't have a car or possessions. You kill/grow/gather your own food. You'd have to pay property taxes (one of the few constants of life, lol) but that's public, not commercial. I mean I know it's super unrealistic, but just bear with me and consider it hypothetically.
You'd still technically be required to buy health insurance from a private company that takes 30% of your premiums as profit...because you're alive. HDT would have a fit; he'd probably write "Civil Disobedience" all over again.
It's seems pretty unprecedented to me.
Not to go against the need to address the burden of the uninsured. It just seems that a mandate to buy something from a private company is decidedly "un-American."
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| Posted 4/1/12 4:18 PM |
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Blu-ize
Plan B is Now Plan A
Member since 7/05 32475 total posts
Name:
Susan
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Re: Has anyone been following the Supreme Court "Obamacare" hearings?
There are a few giant healthcare companies that are public so not sure the being forced to buy from a private company holds any signficance.
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| Posted 4/2/12 9:58 AM |
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