"FREE-RIDERS" ARE FOLKS WHO CAN AFFORD TO BUY HEALTHCARE INSURANCE BUT CHOOSE NOT TO.
OBAMA AND HIS COMRADES ARGUE THAT IF AND WHEN THEY GET SICK OR INJURED - GET "FREE" HEALTHCARE THE REST OF US HAVE TO PAY FOR.
OBAMA AND HIS COMRADES ARGUE THAT THIS IS A KEY DRIVER OF HEALTHCARE INSURANCE INFLATION.
OBAMA AND HIS COMRADES EITHER IDIOTICALLY OR DISINGENUOUSLY ARGUE THAT THE OBAMACARE TAX, ER ... UMMM... "PENALTY" THEY WOULD SAY - MEANS THAT THESE "FREE-RIDERS" ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR HEALTHCARE. AND THAT THEY'RE NO LONGER GETTING A "FREE-RIDE" THAT IS RESPONSIBLE IN PART FOR DRIVING UP HEALTHCARE INSURANCE FOR THE REST OF US WHO DO BUT IT.
WHEN TOLD THAT THE SCOTUS HAS RULED THAT THIS IS A TAX AND THAT IS WILL MEAN 4 MILLION MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE WILL NOW BE TAXED, OBAMA AND HIS COMRADES ARGUE THAT IT "ONLY EFFECTS 1% OF THE POPULATION".
WELL, WHICH IS IT:
ARE THEY THE CHIEF DRIVER OF HEALTHCARE INSURANCE INFLATION FOR THOSE OF US WHO BUY INSURANCE, OR ARE THEY "MERELY 1%"?
ANSWER:
IN FACT; THEY ARE GENERALLY HEALTHY YOUNG PEOPLE WHO MAKE THE SENSIBLE CHOICE NOT TO BUY HEALTH INSURANCE THEY WILL PROBABLY NOT NEED.
THEY ARE NOT THE CHIEF DRIVER OF HEALTHCARE INSURANCE INFLATION.
OUT OF CONTROL LIABILITY LAWSUITS ARE A MUCH BIGGER CAUSE OF HEALTHCARE COST INFLATION AND OBAMACARE DOES NOTHING TO CURB THEM.
COULD THAT BE BECAUSE TRIAL LAWYERS ARE THE BIGGEST SOURCE OF DEMOCRAT PARTY MONEY?
YES. (VOTE ACCORDINGLY. VOTE ROMNEY.)
THE REAL REASON OBAMA AND HIS COMRADES WANT TO FORCE EVERYONE TO BUY HEALTHCARE INSURANCE OR PAY A TAX/PENALTY IS TO GET THEM IN THE INSURANCE POOL AND THUS HELP COVER THE INCREASED COSTS OF OLDER AMERICANS; THE OBAMACARE TAX/PENALTY LEVIED ON SO-CALLED FREE-RIDERS IS MEANT TO COVER THE OLD FOLKS, AND NOT THE FREE-RIDERS THEMSELVES.
THE REAL SOLUTION IS SIMPLE:
- LIABILITY REFORM
- SHIFTING THE TAX-BREAK FROM THE COMPANY TO THE INDIVIDUAL
- SHIFTING INSURANCE POOLS FROM EMPLOYEES/COMPANIES TO INDIVIDUALS/EXCHANGES
- MAKING INSURANCE MOE LIKE HOME INSURANCE AND CAR INSURANCE SO IT CAN BE OFFERED NATIONALLY, ACROSS STATE-LINES, SO THERE IS MORE COMPETITION
- ALLOWING INSURANCE COMPANIES TO OFFER MANY MORE TYPES OF PLANS - SO I DON'T HAVE TO BUY OB-GYN CARE OR COVERAGE OF A CHILD UNDER 26 SINCE I AM A SINGLE MAN.
VOTE ACCORDINGLY. VOTE ROMNEY - WHO SUPPORTS THESE REFORMS.
"FREE-RIDERS" ARE FOLKS WHO CAN AFFORD TO BUY HEALTHCARE INSURANCE BUT CHOOSE NOT TO.
ReplyDeleteThe only people whom I personally know who opt out of health insurance are very, very rich people (millionaires and billionaires). I kid you not!
The word "afford" can be deceptive. On the basis of income, this household could not afford health insurance from 2008-2010; the cost of our premiums exceeded our income. Deductibles and copays and the cost of prescriptions contributed to the spiral downward.
So, what did we do? We dipped into our savings. If we had not had savings, we would have liquidated some possessions to obtain coverage.
And, we went hungry. Literally.
Not to bitch, but it got so bad here that I couldn't afford to buy new underwear. We did manage to keep the heat and the A/C on -- and to continue paying for Internet service.
Had it not been for Christian charity -- my homeschoolers and their families -- things would have been impossible here. They bought us bed linens for the hospital bed, donated wearing clothes, gave us a wheelchair, etc., etc. A fellow blogger came in from Florida to do caregiving for 6 weeks so that I could continue to work and bring in a tad of income.
Because we had no house payment and no car payment, we made it. As my grandmother used to say, "It's not want you WANT to do. It's what you HAVE TO do. That's what life is."
My grandmother was correct.
We stayed off the public dole. Refused it when offered, in fact: county-provided physical therapy for Mr. AOW.
Things finally eased up here in the household on March 1, 2012, the date that Mr. AOW qualified for Medicare. 30 months after his devastating stroke.
BTW, to qualify for Medicaid, EVERYTHING is on the table, including all assets over $2000. ALL! Liquid assets, properties, jewelry, savings -- everything, including the rings on my fingers and the clothes on my back. If one is lucky, one can lose the house but still live in it until both owners die -- that's what happens with medical bankruptcy.
I do agree with your proposed reforms, but want to add to this one:
SHIFTING INSURANCE POOLS FROM EMPLOYEES/COMPANIES TO INDIVIDUALS/EXCHANGES
I want that to happen when any government is the employer! Consider this: county employees here pay no more than $80/month out of their paychecks for health insurance. The balance of the premium is picked up by the employer, i.e., the county government, which gets its every dollar off the backs of the taxpayers.
I'm not sure how those unions health-insurance plans function, but I do know that my father (d. 1998) paid no more than $2/month for union health insurance. $2! I know damn well that the cost of that insurance policy was more than $2/month. So, how did those union employees (vehicle mechanics employed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which usurped the privately owned bus system which used to operate here in the D.C. area) get such a break?
Erratum: I do know a few other people who opt out of carrying health insurance, namely, foreign nationals (some are likely illegal) and my neighbor's deadbeat son, who has no assets and no job at age 42. If my neighbor's son needs medical care, his parents usually pay for it although sometimes he gets free care via Medicaid.
ReplyDeleteReliapundit,
ReplyDeleteDo you have private health insurance or employer-based coverage? The premium for my private policy went down on April 1! I have no pre-existing conditions, BTW.
EMPLOYER BASED AND THERE ARE SOME YOUNG EMPLOYEES WHO USED TO OPT OUT AND SAVE A FEW THOU A YEAR CUZ THEY'RE HEALTHY.
ReplyDeleteOUR PLANS WENT U 17%.