Health Care Bill Passes 219-210Follow

Finally!

See, this is what I don't understand. I, and everyone I know, is totally free in their health care choices. The only restrictions on my health care choices are imposed by government already. Everything else is totally open to me.

As to the spiraling costs of health care, even the Senate majority whip stated on the floor of the senate that insurance premiums will continue to go up when this got passed. They won't be making it cheaper.

Yes, we're free to pay outrageous premiums and to then be grossly restricted on our choices, or to go without insurance? I don't like your brand of freedom - it costs too much and is poorly distributed.

Exactly. Your freedom ends when you fail to provide for your health and spread disease unchecked, use up emergency resources, procreate, etc, etc

Frickin' simpleton.

My point is that it's illegal, ********

Maybe I'm just lucky (or successful?). I don't pay outrageous premiums for a family of four.

Of course, perhaps mindset makes a difference. I appreciate the ability to fail as it affords the possibility to succeed.

It sound to me like you're either lucky and have no sick family members, or you receive insurance through your place of business.

A synopsis here.



Looks like it's a couple of years out, but yes.

Prior to that, you can join a "high risk" pool which will cost more but at least keep you covered until the exchanges are active and the stricter industry rules take effect.

I have heard rumoured that there often is not much choice about Health insurer companies, depending on what State you are living in.

I have also heard rumoured that this is because there is a lot of differences between State law regulation of health insurers in different states. So many (most?) health insurance companies don't bother operating in more than one state, because the setting up for different red tape isn't worth the bother.

Does this bill do anything about that? There's more competition coming in, isn't there? Community co-ops or something? If not Fed or State government run health insurance?

Any way, another Aussie anecdote: In Australia each State had workplace employment conditions laws. (You know: minimum sick leave hours a year, minimum holiday leave per year, minimum wages per hour etc). Anyway, the Federal government wound up ages ago having its own set as well. I'm not sure why. Each state set of laws was different from state to state, then there were the Fed laws as well.

A couple of decades ago, the next conservative state government that came in to power in Victoria simply abolished all State workplace employment laws, leaving the Federal laws in place as a minimum. Now Victorians are very picky and responsive to Federal workplace laws, since they are the only ones that are in play for employers and employees.

I know in Iowa, one annoying labor-law is that small businesses don't have to allot breaks for employees. No, really.

Granted, success is different for everyone. I define it as being able to provide my family with everything the need and some of what they want. My hard work, my good fortune and the choices that I have made have all met in the middle to facilitate that. I have taken responsibility for the choices that I have made and put in the hard work to set up the good fortune necessary for that. The government has done nothing more than take money from me (available because of my hard work and the responsibility I have accepted) to pass it out to people too lazy or too irresponsible, or too entitled to do the same. They do not provide the an opportunity to fail, they provide an excuse not to try, hey provide an excuse to make poor choices and they provide a path to dependence on the effort of others. That is where our mindsets are diametrically opposed.

My employer pays half of the cost of my health insurance. They receive a tax benefit for doing so. Today I am paying roughly 30% more for insurance that I was 6 years ago, with a job change and 2 kids added to the mix.