Quote:
Originally Posted by Danzig
that's impossible and illogical to assume. but i know that's not your thinking.
there's no way the cost of healthcare will go down. insurance companies are just chomping at the bit to add to their roles-but that also adds to the claims they will be paying.
then there's the mound of 'freebies' added on that will be covered 'at no cost'- but that cost will be included in the premiums.
kids to age 26 on their parents' policies-another increase(as an aside, why 26? kids are into their majority by then, by several years). i had all three of my children by age 26-i'm sure my parents would have been thrilled to have had to pay for me to be on their policy all that time, rather than on my husbands. no doubt the with child portion of said policy would have paid for all that maternity care. 
congress said the price tag for this new program must be under one trillion dollars. cbo already adjusted that tag to over one trillion earlier this year. in other words, congress was duped. |
Except that you have to compare the cost of the program with the cost of doing nothing. Our current health care system is not sustainable. We had a choice- reform, or decide that the poor and middle class need to be left to die. Which is certainly a position, and, judging from some of the comments on this board, one that some posters here would be just fine with, but it's not the kind of America I believe in ("provide for the general welfare," as is said in the Preamble, is more like the nation I believe in). I don't think it's the kind of nation you believe in, either.
I agree with you 100% that universal Medicare would be the best and cheapest option, but unfortunately in today's political climate, that was never a possibility.
I would be surprised if your health care costs go up due to the ACA. I really would (and remember, it starts in 2014, so any increases companies make now that they blame on ACA are bs lies).
The main group of people who will find themselves liable for the tax are singles with an income of about $30,000- $80,000. Below that they will likely be covered by expanded Medicaid (as, other than Arizona and Texas and a few other Neo-Confederate bastions of "f*ck the poor" states, I don't see many refusing the additional Medicaid monies), and above that, they likely already have health insurance. When I was making $30,000 a year, I paid over $3,000 a year for private health insurance (my job didn't offer it). It sucked, but I managed. Those people can certainly afford $600 a year for a tax penalty.