Maybe this could be a semi-good bill if we took the mandates out

[bluestateguy]

By taking the mandates out, you would force the insurance companies to compete for customers' business. Young healthy people would just not buy insurance if they felt that the insurance companies were giving them a shitty deal, and the companies want these customers, but they should have to earn them. Now is that as effective as a good public option? Of course not! But in the absence of that, the insurance companies would be held more accountable if individual mandates were not in the bill, as opposed to every person being required to buy their product. The latter does not promote good customer service ("you MUST buy what we are selling", etc.).

[OneGrassRoot]

1. The mandates are what have me most concerned.

While I'm glad there are positives that will help others, the mandates -- and sheer lack of affordability for tens of millions of others like myself -- terrify me, quite frankly.

I don't know if our elected officials comprehend the reality that many of us can't afford anything else beyond our current expenses. I could probably do $100/month, but I don't even feel I'd be getting anything FOR that expense unless major medical is part of it. And, from what I've read, I highly doubt the premiums will be that low.

I haven't had insurance for 10 years and I don't see this bill offering me health CARE without continued extreme financial stress, not without the public option being included. The mandate just adds to the stress given my situation.

And I know I'm far from alone.

:(

[AllyCat]

7. Elected officials don't comprehend this. I read that something like 40%

of them are millionaires or near that. Even if that's not true, they have no clue what it is like for the rest of us. I'm lucky in that we have "good" insurance through my employer, thanks to my kick ass union negotiating it contract, after contract, after contract. But if something happens to me, I lose my job, die, get sick...what will happen to my family? We could not afford our bills, let alone the house and all the other stuff PLUS paying through the nose for insurance that he would be mandated to buy.

And I see all the people out of work...how will they buy insurance??? At ridiculous rates. These elected officials have NO CLUE!

[tosh]

12. Far from alone.

Without a public or TRUE non-profit option, I can't see myself leaving the ranks of the uninsured.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Except that if you keep the restriction on preexisting conditions

and remove mandates, then people will be able to get health insurance only after they become sick and need it, and then drop it as soon as they are well. That way the insurance companies will only ever be spending money on the sick and not making any from healthy individuals paying premiums. That won't work because then they will all immediately go out of business and we'll be left with our non-existent public plan.

That's the beauty part: we're locked into the mandate because we refuse to challenge the corporate hegemony. Dealing with the insurance corporations forces us to take an interest in keeping them in business, while we dole out mammoth subsidies. So the mandates have to stay to make the current privatized deal work. I understand and accept that. It's just an argument against this whole bill.

[dflprincess]

3. How is that different from now?

There are no mandates, supposedly they have to compete but the premiums keep going up and while the policies cover less, and they don't give a damn about customer service. Nothing holds the insurance companies accountable now and nothing in this bill will do that.

Just kill the bill. It's reached the point where nothing is better than something.

[bluestateguy]

5. Because now there would be subsidies

But whether or not people used them to buy insurance, that would be up to them.

[leftstreet]

6. Oh...kinda like,,,um...vouchers! Wasn't that McCain's healthcare plan?

or, er, tax credit healthy savings R US account thingys

[AllyCat]

11. Subsidies like 'tax credits' So we wanted to buy a new furnace with the 'tax credit'`

and lo and behold, when we went to buy the $3000 furnace we wanted last year with no tax credit, it is now up to $4400 WITH the tax credit. Tax credits make money for business, not us. Tax credits are a load of $hit. The insurance companies will figure out how much each family gets for a tax credit and their rates will go up that amount at least.

[leftstreet]

4. Why haven't the ins. cos been competing for customers all along?

Gosh, were they waiting for a big taxpayer bailout?

Ya think?

[tinrobot]

8. They don't compete, they carve up the country and monopolize

Most states have two insurance companies at most. Some only have one.

[Davis_X_Machina]

9. It's not universal if there's no mandate....

...and with all those healthy (mostly) young people not in the pool, there's no savings. In fact, with regulatory changes like no recission, no pre-existing coverage bans, no lifetime or annual caps, insurance would cost more than it does now.

[eilen]

13. all those healthy under employed young people who have crushing

student loan debt and little job prospects. Yeah, let's lean on the young some more!

[Davis_X_Machina]

15. It's the model the highly successful Social Security system uses...

...perhaps you've heard of it? I remember fighting to save it in 2005.

[eilen]

17. Take a look at when you or your child can retire on SS

and tell me what a great deal it is for them. Now take that 12.5% and add another 27% from their income that they are on the hook for -- just for health care and SS/Medicare. I predict a great sucking sound of young people leaving the country for a better deal in Canada or Europe. At least in those places the older people are also paying to help them with higher education and childcare.

[mike_c]

10. yum!-- a semi-shit sandwich....

No, thank you.

[David Zephyr]

14. More rationalization. This bill is a give-away of hundreds of billions to corporations.

We need to stop trying to help Obama sign something and focus on what the bill should have been: real health care reform so that Americans could have security in their health issues like all of Europe, Japan, Australia and the rest of the civilized world.

We are a nation of patsies.

[Laelth]

16. I agree. It's OK without the individual mandate.

But, of course, the individual mandate is the most essential part of the ill (to the health insurance companies). There's no way that will be stripped from the bill--not with our corporate government.

:dem:

-Laelth