Comments | july_july_july: Belay that!

july_july_july

Belay that!

Mar 21, 2010 12:10

I lied! Quote from Digby.
Update: I'm wrong about this. If the house passes the bill, it will become the law of the land (unless the president vetoed it, which won't happen.) If reconciliation fails, as remains possible, then the House will just have been screwed and all the careful negotiations of the past few days will have been for naught. ( Read more... )

health care, politics, asshat

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darkmagess March 21 2010, 21:02:55 UTC

Are you telling me that my country almost has universal healthcare?

july_july_july March 21 2010, 21:56:00 UTC

Ummm....no. Sadly. It's basically a list of insurance practice reforms. But it's better than nothing, which is pretty much what we've got at this point.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/18/health-care-reform-bill-c_n_505128.html

A lot MORE people will be covered, but not everybody. And it will be harder insurance companies to screw people over.

darkmagess March 21 2010, 22:48:32 UTC

Oh...

That's... not really as thrilling as it could be, is it.

I don't understand the mandated concept. How is making me buy something I can't afford good for me? If I could afford it... I'd have it. *boggle*

july_july_july March 21 2010, 23:45:28 UTC

Ah yes, the mandate. This works the same way that car insurance does. If we both have cars, and I back into your car, GEICO (my provider) will pay for your damages. BUT if we both have bodies, and I get sick and end up in the ER, and I have no insurance, YOU the taxpayer will end up paying for my treatment. ERs can't turn away urgent cases so if I break my leg and show up at County General, they have to set the leg and give me some painkillers. If I can't pay County General back, County General will draw on the tax base.

Now multiply that by MILLIONS of people who have no insurance and end up in the ER. The government ends up absorbing those costs and taxpayer dollars end up paying. Which is how, over time, this bill will actually significantly reduce the deficit.

darkmagess March 22 2010, 00:05:26 UTC

I can understand that broad view of things. And see how the government would benefit from a few years of reduced ER expenditures.

But unlike car insurance, where I can give up my car if I can't afford the payments, I can't give up my flesh if I can't afford insurance. So, what do I do?

july_july_july March 22 2010, 05:13:48 UTC

Well, there will be subsidies to help cover the cost of your health insurance. Which doesn't sound like much, but let me put it like this: this is the biggest fucking thing that Congress has been able to do in over forty years. Money is a very, very powerful thing. It's significant that Democrats were willing to look beyond the cash, look beyond the 100% Republican opposition, and do the right thing for today.

Hopefully they will do more right things in the future.

liviapenn March 22 2010, 06:25:47 UTC

Well, but health insurance is also unlike other types of insurance in the sense that, if I crash my car into a tree and I have no insurance and no money, no one is legally obligated to fix my car. But if I break my leg and have no health insurance and no money, I can still go to the ER and they *are* legally obligated to treat me. So one way to look at it is, if they're legally obligated to treat me, then why shouldn't I be obligated to have health insurance ( ... )

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