Healthcare:
1: It will cost $1.04 trillion over 10 years. Wow! The alternative's more? Show me, because, I'm old school. Someone proposing change bears the burden of proof that it's better.
2: Individual Mandates: buy or else pay a 2.5% penalty on AGI.
Questions:
-"Thanks very much, if I'm 25 earning 50K, I'll take my chances with $1,250 per year suckas 'cause I'm indestructible rather than pay $300 per month for insurance I don't need."
-Where's the libertarian argument here? Ah! There it is and from a liberal blog no less.
-Why does big Pharma supports this plan? 45 million new pill popping customers. Yum.
-Why does big insurance supports this, and not the Public Option. Answer: 45 million new insurance customers. Also yum.
-What's to keep my employer from dropping current coverage, letting employees adopt the Public plan, and then, if physician doesn't participate in the public plan, I'm compelled to select a new physician.
3: Establishes insurance exchange where consumers can compare policies and buy coverage, with credits up to 4x the poverty level. This is where the Public Options comes into play.
My question:
-If the Public Option is a Federal 'agency', is it subject to State Insurance commission scrutiny (probably not) and if it's not, then how can there possibly be a level playing field with the various State insurance companies who don't have access to nearly the large pool?
4: Employers to provide health coverage or pay a fee to the government of (depending on version of plan) 8% of wages.
Questions:
-Cost per employee now for insurance on nationwide average is around 9%. States like NJ, MA, NY, RI... (the community rated states) have higher costs. High cost state employee now have an incentive to drop coverage and pay the 8% tax instead rather than their current higher costs, right? Drop coverage => new coverage => possible loss of current doctor.
-Perhaps the 8% surcharge is the WalMart tax (i.e. tax on employers who don't provide coverage already)? Ah! But i) WalMart DOES favor health reform and ii) WalMart already provide coverage. Why on earth would WalMart support reform? Answer: because it, with it's high fixed cost coverage spread over it's own large population of employees, it will have a competitive advantage over newcomers into the market who'll now have to pony up 8% to the government. Clever WalMart. Health reform helps WalMart. Who'd a thunk it?
5: Bars insurance companies from denying coverage and eliminates insurance company lifetime caps.
-Is that to say that I can fail to buy insurance until the day I'm rolled into the ER with an expensive illness at which point I'm followed by a doctor, nurse and insurance salesman? What's the incentive to get insurance if I'm young, healthy, earn less than say, $50K per year (2.5% x $80 = $1250 yearly penalty), and can get insurance at a moments notice, if ill?
6: Reduction in spending for Medicare and Medicaid.
-Come again? Details? If this is such a good idea, why haven't we done it already? Or, is this like that 'waste' thing every politician has run on for decades?
-And if it's not a hollow promise of eliminating waste, then are there plans of specific reductions? Again, specifics. (kill granny, kill granny....)
-Why are all the elderly showing up and shouting 'lies'. Answer: it's because the reform plans reductions in Medicare and medicaid and the plan is so vague that it allows opposition to postulate how in fact spending will be reduced.