If ObamaCare dies, what then?
It’s June, and the heart of ObamaCare, the individual mandate, has just been struck down by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote.
What now?
In discussions today, the justices will hear debate about whether they can kill the mandate and leave the rest of the legislation intact, or whether the entire structure comes tumbling down without the mandate.
That legal debate aside, as a practical matter I think it’s clear that without the mandate, insurance companies cannot be required to cover pre-existing conditions, which goes to the heart of what health-insurance reform is supposed to achieve.
If individuals can go without insurance as long as they’re healthy, then force the insurance companies to cover them when they get ill, the whole concept of insurance goes out the window. It is no longer sustainable. That’s precisely why the Heritage Foundation, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, among others, embraced and pushed the mandate approach.
So again, what happens if the mandate disappears?
In the two years since ObamaCare was signed into law, congressional Republicans have campaigned on a policy of “repeal and replace.” In truth, they have made no real attempt to do either.
If the court rules against ObamaCare, of course, “repeal” becomes moot and attention turns to the “replace” part of the problem. Replace it with what?
As I’ve noted before, when I had the chance to discuss the issue with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, neither could offer even the slightest idea for how to solve the problem without a mandate. That is also true for the Republican Party as a whole.
What little thinking they’ve done on the issue seems to coalesce around the idea that the problem in health care is third-party insurance, whether acquired through private companies or through the government. The philosophy seems to be that if people are forced to pay out of their own pockets for health care, instead of relying on other parties to pay for it, market forces will once again come into play and the health-care market will begin to behave more like the market for wheat or automobiles.
Theoretically, it makes sense. But people don’t live theoretically. Theory doesn’t explain how a family can pay for one child’s apendectomy and another child’s broken leg out of its own resources. It doesn’t explain how an elderly couple on a fixed income can pay for their medicine and doctor visits. Pristine economic models don’t begin to get us where we need to be.
If ObamaCare is overturned, the fundamental questions that we were all asking three or four years ago will once again come to the forefront:
Is health care a human right, or can it be denied to those who are unable to pay for it? If you want to bring market forces to bear on the problem, you pretty much have to take the second approach. But so far we have been unwilling to embrace it. The Reagan-era law requiring emergency rooms to treat patients regardless of ability to pay still stands as de facto acceptance that health care is a right.
And if health care is a right — if we are not willing to deny health care to those unable to pay for it — how will we as a nation and society cover those costs? ObamaCare attempts to provide an answer to that question. If that answer proves unacceptable to a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, what’s the next answer?
Come June, that could become a powerful question in a presidential campaign that will be hitting its full stride right about then.
– Jay Bookman
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891 comments Add your comment
(ir)Rational
March 28th, 2012
10:09 am
Bro – They might not want to touch me, but the sure do it a lot. I get pulled aside for “extra screening” every time I go through the airport. Anyway, I got to go to a meeting.
Doggone/GA
March 28th, 2012
10:10 am
“but they are set up to determine whether or not the government would allow treatment to be administered to certain individuals.”
No, they aren’t. Never were. It’s a flat out LIE.
stands for decibels
March 28th, 2012
10:10 am
I say extremely high deductibles for catastrophic care only.
People who are bullish on crap-ass high deductible plans have, obviously, never
endured enjoyed the consequences of them.But hey, no worries. Your hospital will be happy to work out a payment plan for that three, four, five thousand dollar outpatient procedure you had to have, that you’re funding entirely out of your own pocket. You’ll be making out monthly checks to a collection agency for years to come, true, but I’m sure that won’t affect anything down the road!
Libertarian
March 28th, 2012
10:10 am
The poor are exempt from the mandate. So it doesn’t solve the problem. The poor will still receive healthcare for free regardless of what happens with the court decision.
Steve
March 28th, 2012
10:10 am
General welfare clause. It’s in the Constitution – TWICE. How the hell do you think we have Medicare, welfare, and social security?
stands for decibels
March 28th, 2012
10:10 am
aw crap. I gots de Strikeyz.
Brosephus™
March 28th, 2012
10:10 am
I thought for sure you were reading Jays columns here when he was applauding the merits of the death panels.
What does that have to do with what I asked you? You’re yammering about death panels that do not exist right now. I asked you about death panels that have been in effect since 1999. Care to try again?
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:10 am
The Thin Guy-maybe it is just you?
JohnnyReb
March 28th, 2012
10:11 am
Like most Progressive thoughts, individual responsibility is as foreign as Jupiter. The bleeding hearts that they are, the only acceptable solution is a one-size-fits-all solution that can only be controlled by the Feds.
We don’t turn sick people away from emergency health services now, so where are those poor people denied health care that Obamacare will fix? Answer, there are not any.
There has been numerous staged fixes to the cost of healthcare discussed before and after Obamacare became law. Tort reform and purchasing across state lines but two.
There may not be an exact plan in place, but for sure the fix is not Obamacare. It is not a mandate. It is not growing the federal government. It is not a fix where immediate exemptions are issued cronies. It is not shredding the Constitution so that more wealth transfer can occur.
The Federal Government needs to enable states to have fixes of their own, not mandate a fix that
Peter
March 28th, 2012
10:11 am
Georgia the most corrupt state in the Union……… Thank you GOP !
JamVet
March 28th, 2012
10:12 am
stands, that is but one part and parcel of of the Pro-Life culture of death.
The only slim hope for the GOP anytime soon is that their children toss their parents’ twisted, dogmatic ideology of self-destructiveness, 1950s/Joseph McCarthy worldview and hyper-xenophobia to the curb.
And grow a fully functioning brain, spine and moral ethos. A tough row to hoe for sure after being poisoned by those in the Old White Men Only Party for so long…
Senior Citizen Kane
March 28th, 2012
10:13 am
Peter: When did you move to Georgia? Obviously you weren’t hear for any of the 130 years the Dems were in charge. LOL.
They BOTH suck
March 28th, 2012
10:13 am
“Doctors are leaving the medical profession in droves due to Medicare and the upcoming Marxist Medicine. ”
Link?
thanks
JohnnyReb
March 28th, 2012
10:13 am
My 10:11 should have a period after the word fix in the last paragrpah and the word that removed.
Brosephus™
March 28th, 2012
10:13 am
they are set up to determine whether or not the government would allow treatment to be administered to certain individuals.
Mighty Righty
Click on the link I gave you. Texas is already doing that. They’re denying treatment to people who have the insurance to cover it. You’re dealing with fantasy at this point as that part of the ACA doesn’t go into effect until some time in the future. I’m talking about a law that’s 12 years old and was not repealed by Gov. Rick Perry who was one of those who campaigned against the ACA and, by default, death panels.
Normal, Plain and Simple
March 28th, 2012
10:14 am
Senior Citizen Kane
March 28th, 2012
10:13 am
Yesterdays Democrats are today’s Republicans…
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:15 am
johnnyreb-I think you will discover that most people just scroll past your diatribes so no need to correct.
Jefferson
March 28th, 2012
10:15 am
Some people don’t want to see others do as well than them, and become childish if “someone” appears to get a better deal than their deal.
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:15 am
Polls show that about eighty per cent of Americans aer dissatisfied with our present health care system. Their premiums are too high for them to afford. If the mandates are struck down, the cournty will either move toward a one payer system, or the states will build more public hospitals like Grady to treat everyone who comes to the door, and collects what they can.
I know a number of people who have been without health insurance and have used Grady. They pay what they can and taxpayers make up the difference.
Libertarian
March 28th, 2012
10:15 am
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:01 am
So, do you expect your employer to just cover your husband for free? Of course your monthly “fee” would double. Why do you expect something for free?
RB from Gwinnett
March 28th, 2012
10:15 am
Becky. “My husband was laid off from a company he had been with other 30 years, suddenly no health insurance. He is now on my plan and my monthly fee has doubled.
He could not afford to buy his own and he probably could not even find coverage at his age.
Yes-we need universal health coverage!”
Why don’t you just find some rich person and steal the money from them to pay for it?
If you’re completely honest with yourself, Becky, that’s EXACTLY what you’re asking the government to do on your behalf.
JamVet
March 28th, 2012
10:15 am
Normal, and why I laugh so heartily at these neocons.
I LOVE being a VA socialist hiding behind that now revered veteran moniker!
The laugh is truly on those rubes, who never found a foot of theirs that they wouldn’t and couldn’t shoot right off.
Hence the constant hobbling around and groveling before their adored banksters and titans of commerce!
Woodstock Mike
March 28th, 2012
10:16 am
Nothing will happen, life will go on…
Jay, let’t talk some Trayvon Martin, why aren’t you touching that story??
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:16 am
Lib-you do understand when my husband was employed his insurance was part of his benefits package? Maybe you don’t enjoy any benefits at your place of employment?
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:18 am
What stuff was made up except what we were told what the bill would cost?
jhunt163
March 28th, 2012
10:18 am
“How the hell do you think we have Medicare, welfare, and social security?” I am not sure about you, but my public school teacher before being reinforced by my history professor told me that social security was deemed Constitutional only after Roosevelt and a Democratic controlled congress threaten to pack the court.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_Procedures_Reform_Bill_of_1937
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:18 am
Woodstock Mike
March 28th, 2012
10:16 am
Nothing will happen, life will go on…
Jay, let’t talk some Trayvon Martin, why aren’t you touching that story??
Were you unconscious yesterday?
stands for decibels
March 28th, 2012
10:20 am
why aren’t you touching that story??
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/03/26/the-goal-is-justice-for-trayvon-not-vengeance/
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/03/27/the-martin-case-aside-stand-your-ground-law-is-stupid/
Woodstock, you’re reliable. I’ll give you that.
Libertarian
March 28th, 2012
10:21 am
Yes, I understand that Becky. Its unfortunate that he was laid off but its good that you are employed somewhere where he can get coverage…even if you have to pay a little more for it. I still don’t understand why you expect your employer to cover your spouse for free. Its not your employer’s fault that your husband’s employer laid him off.
And, I own my place of employment and I provide health insurance to all of my employees and all of their dependents and have done so since day one. Yet, I am being punished by Obamacare.
JamVet
March 28th, 2012
10:21 am
Did some one mentioned the disgraced former vice president?
http://blogs.ajc.com/mike-luckovich/?cxntlid=sldr_hm
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:21 am
I’m curious how much us taxpayers have paid for Santorum’s family insurance. Anyone have a clue? Another family that would be unable to purchase insurance living off taxpayer funded insurance.
Common Sense
March 28th, 2012
10:21 am
“Jay really needs to dust off the fainting couch for you.”
It’s not me that’s fearing an unconstitutional series of laws is rightfully revoked.
And there are many of us who have challenged issues as to their Constitionality.
The argument that others have ignored it in the past is the weakest of arguments you can state for ignoring it now.
We are individuals with individual rights guaranteed.
The mob does not get to roll over us and enslave subsegments for their benefit at will.
We got rid of that mindset back in the 19th century.
jose
March 28th, 2012
10:21 am
Jay: In response to your comments on my earlier posting:
1) Medical residencies are the best predictor of future medical workforce…a majority of medical residents stay to practice medicine once their term has ended. In 1998, Congress permanently froze funding at 1998 levels for medical residency programs. In the intervening years, Massachusetts saw signficant population outflow but they continued churning out new doctors as if their population was the same. In sunbelt states like GA, a lot of people moved in but we still are limited to our 1998 medical residency cap.
2) The median age of practicing nurses and physicians, in both the North and South, is rapidly rising as baby boomers age. I think I heard that the median age for nurses in GA is 48-50 (that is of course if you trusty by cloudy memory). Georgia is very short right now and the shortage gets significantly worse. and yes, the laws of supply and deman will take affect.
3) You are incorrectly assuming that uninsured patients who seek care in the ER will discontinue that practice. IF they can’t find a doctor who will agree to see them, they will continue going to the ER. It will be better for them..they can pay a bill..and better for the ER bottom line but it doesn’t necessarily create the right kind of access for them as a patient.
4) there is another issue worth considering. In Massachusetts (and in Medicare when an uninsured patient hits age 65 and is newly insured) , they found that newly insured patients who present themselves at a doctors office have a lot going wrong due to years of negect,etc. The cost curve of treating them is extremely high. All the more reason, of course, to get them insurance but in Massachusetts it taxed the system in that it created delays in MRIs, etc.
5) On another note, Obamacare cynically treats all patients the same, i.e. penalizing hospitals for readmission. In reality, a newly insured homeless person is much more difficult to treat than a person with a family who may have suffered a job loss etc and in some cases, readmission would be a good follow up care recommendation. President Obama imposes signficant penalties for readmission.
My point is that the U.S. has such an unrealistic expectation about the potential positives of the law. IT was a first step but, in my opinion, stopped far short of true health reform and I worry that Americans are locked into black and white postions on Obamacare and that we have stopped thinking of ways to make our system work.
Woodstock Mike
March 28th, 2012
10:21 am
Becky. “My husband was laid off from a company he had been with other 30 years, suddenly no health insurance. He is now on my plan and my monthly fee has doubled.
He could not afford to buy his own and he probably could not even find coverage at his age.
Yes-we need universal health coverage!”
So you now have 2 people on your plan and the price doubled. That’s because you now have 2 people, not just 1?? I’m sick and tired of people expecting health care for free?? Who came up with that stupid idea? You do realize that Obamacare isn’t free and in some cases will be a higher premium than what you pay now??
Libertarian
March 28th, 2012
10:22 am
Woodstock Mike
March 28th, 2012
10:16 am
I guess you have a life and don’t spend every second checking/reading Jay’s blog.
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:22 am
I say hold off on the Trayvon Martin story until ALL the facts come out. Which is not what the media and the Sharptons and Jacksons of the world did the last few days.
Ennis
March 28th, 2012
10:22 am
The Thin Man at least you know where the people go to get extremely good medical care. Switzerland. I have said this over and over… If obamacare fail/getsvoteddown look at the swiss model, adopt it as our own and be done with it. Then the right and left can shut up and get this nation going in the right direction for health care for everyone. And I do mean everyone.
Aquagirl
March 28th, 2012
10:23 am
johnnyreb-I think you will discover that most people just scroll past your diatribes so no need to correct.
Becky’s right….you’re gonna have to step up your game with posters like Thin Man around. Wishing for the good ‘ol days when bloodletting and balancing of your bodily humours was affordable….that’s far more entertaining.
Woodstock Mike
March 28th, 2012
10:23 am
BECKY-
No I was working yesterday and not sitting on a blog. Why would you make such an incredibly rude comment like that? Wow, you must be completely ignorant! Let me guess, Democrat?
St Simons- island off the coast of New Somalia
March 28th, 2012
10:23 am
If Obamacare dies, what then?
Medicare for All, with zero deductible on Republidectomies.
Obamacare was a good first step to try to move this banana republic
into the 1st world, a first step to ease out the bloodsucking for profit
insurance industry profiting off the misery of others.
But hey, if you want to go straight to universal, fine.
Its the 21st century. There is no Future in the Past.
Bill Orvis White
March 28th, 2012
10:23 am
“The Reagan-era law requiring emergency rooms to treat patients regardless of ability to pay still stands as de facto acceptance that health care is a right.”
…and that right there is one of the items forced upon this once-free nation by an out-of-control Democrat Congress. Invoking the honorable Pres. Ronald Wilson Reagan like that in this “argument” is not fair.
With that fact laid out clearly on this lefty blog, health care was never a right guaranteed by the Founding Fathers in The Constitution. We could all buy health insurance if government would simply get out of the way with its high, high taxes and regulations. If those burdens were lifted, then WE THE PEOPLE could buy privatized insurance as to OUR needs and not Nanny Pelosi’s needs. Lifting Big Gov’t will drive price$ way down to affordable levels. If this happened, I could get check-ups just as much as I got my oil changed. Amen, Bill
Mighty Righty
March 28th, 2012
10:24 am
Brosephus™ , I thought we were talking about Obama’s health destruction program. I can’t argue with you about Texas. Not being a Texas resident, I don’t know or care what they are doing.
Common Sense
March 28th, 2012
10:24 am
“Peter: When did you move to Georgia? Obviously you weren’t hear for any of the 130 years the Dems were in charge. LOL.”
Or aware that the last two elected governors are democrats turned republican….
Steve
March 28th, 2012
10:24 am
general
welfare
clause
JamVet
March 28th, 2012
10:24 am
Libertarian,
More likely he is just trolling.
(Because after all that list o recent posts at the top of this page is hidden like the fees and conditions on peoples credit card statements!)
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:24 am
Woodstock Mike, what people like Becky refuse to understand and accept is it is NOT free. The fact that she was able to put her husband on her insurance through her employer should be great news for her not a reason for a bill we can not afford.
Woodstock Mike
March 28th, 2012
10:25 am
Becky says her premium doubled because she now has 2 people on her health plan instead of 1.
LOL!!
Well Becky, you now have 2 people so your plan increases? What planet are you from? Did you think you could add him for free?? Oh yeah, you think somebody else should pay that, right?? So sad!!
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:25 am
Gah-you all missed my point. My husband would be unable to buy health insurance if he was not able to come under mine. Of course my cost doubled, there are now two people on it. But if I was not able to do that he would be uninsured and you would be paying for his healthcare from Grady. Get it?
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:25 am
Maine did away with the pre-existing conditions clause several years ago and seems to be doing well. The Court can strike the mandates and leave the reat.
I don’t buy the argument that the law can’t exist without the mandates. Works in Maine. Will work in other states as well.
Steve
March 28th, 2012
10:26 am
I happen to make good money and am employed – I have great health coverage but I am probably closer to the 1% now. I lose my job, well – I’m screwed. I have allergies & asthma and these meds are expensive, yet they are necessary, despite the fact that I am extremely healthy, eat healthy, and run 3 miles nearly every day. I’m the same weight, at 45, as I was in high school.
Yet – I’d be screwed without Obamacare if heaven forbid, I lost my job.
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:27 am
St. Simons, why don’t you go live in a true banana republic for a few months and experience the living conditions and healthcare. Hey, I hear Cuba has great medical capabilities. Give it a shot for a few months.
Woodstock Mike
March 28th, 2012
10:27 am
Wow!!!
BECKY was able to add her husband to her policy and still complains about health insurance. Talk about rediculous and completely out of touch with the real world!!
Hey Becky, health insurance costs money!! Wake up!!
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:27 am
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:25 am
Gah-you all missed my point. My husband would be unable to buy health insurance if he was not able to come under mine. Of course my cost doubled, there are now two people on it. But if I was not able to do that he would be uninsured and you would be paying for his healthcare from Grady. Get it?
You are missing our point, it is not free.
stands for decibels
March 28th, 2012
10:28 am
I guess you have a life and don’t spend every second checking/reading Jay’s blog.
Kudos. You’ve actually made an excuse for Woodstock’s asshattery. You’re actually providing cover to someone a) going to a guy’s blog and b) bitching about why the guy isn’t covering a story that he has covered TWICE IN TWO DAYS.
because checking to see if Jay had done so would mean Woodstock had no life. apparently.
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:28 am
Some people just cannot read for comprehension. So sad.
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:28 am
Bill Orvis White
____________
Health care had not been invented in 1789. Neither had much medical care. They treated George Washington with leeches.
Constitution does not prohibit government taxing citizens to pay for health care system. Question is whether or not it is something we want to do.
Brosephus™
March 28th, 2012
10:29 am
Mighty Righty
If you’re wanting to be Capt. Save-a-man when it comes to death panels, why not put your efforts into places where US citizens are already getting denied care, even when they have the insurance/money to pay for it? It’s a chance to put your money where your mouth is. The fact that you say you don’t care is quite indicative that you really don’t care about it at all. You’re simply using that as an escuse to argue. No problem though, as I already knew that’s what you were doing.
Aquagirl
March 28th, 2012
10:29 am
I guess you have a life and don’t spend every second checking/reading Jay’s blog.
Or Woodstock is too lazy to shift his eyes approximately six inches to the right for the recent posts.
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:29 am
Kramer-thank you. You just validated my statement.
Steve - USA (I support "None Of The Above")
March 28th, 2012
10:29 am
“I guess you have a life and don’t spend every second checking/reading Jay’s blog.”
…or you could have look 3 inches to your right and looked at the list of Jays recent posts.
Steve - USA (I support "None Of The Above")
March 28th, 2012
10:30 am
I guess Aquagirl beat me to it.
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:30 am
Which was what Becky? That your husband was fortunate to have a wife working with a healthcare plan or that Obamacare is not free and not affordable for the country?
Mighty Righty
March 28th, 2012
10:30 am
Where on earth are the liberals getting the idea that there will be no cost to them for the Obama health destruction program. Actual cost will run each of us somewhere around $1000 per month. They young who do not now want insuance will be forced to pay. The lady that earlier, Becky, complains that she had to pay extra to cover her husband. Becky, just who do you think will pay for all of the illegal immigrants, the poor and others who are not now buying insurance? You Becky, and me and everyone else on here spouting off about how great Obama health destruction program will.
Libertarian
March 28th, 2012
10:31 am
stands for decibels
March 28th, 2012
10:28 am
I’m actually surprised none of you regulars has said “blogger.com is ready when you are.”
Steve
March 28th, 2012
10:31 am
Again, Might Whitey just pulls lies out of his…
Butch Cassidy
March 28th, 2012
10:32 am
If Obamacare gets struck down thereby ending the “government interference” diatribe from the GOP faithful, can we then expect the drums to go silent regarding “government interference” in the free market as it pertains to gas prices as well?
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:32 am
Mighty Righty
___________
That;s what we are paying now to treat the people that don’t have insuance. Sounds like a wash to me.
Libertarian
March 28th, 2012
10:33 am
wait, wait…so…woodstock could have just looked to the right?
willydoit?
March 28th, 2012
10:33 am
“If ObamaCare dies, what then?”
Same thing that always happens. Republicans will come up with something that the Democrats will kill…then the Democrats will come up with something the Republicans will kill….and so on and so on and so on!!
Its how politics work in America!
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:34 am
REad this reaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllll slow and try to understand:
But if I was not able to do that he would be uninsured and you would be paying for his healthcare from Grady. Get it?
Recon 0311 2533
March 28th, 2012
10:34 am
When this monster bill was being created behind closed doors polls indicated that 80% of the population were satisfied with their health care as it was. Now we have close to 70% saying either get rid of the individual mandate or repeal the entire bill. It’s now in the hands of Supreme Court and if it’s a 5 to 4 decision against ObamaCare it will indeed be a campaign issue, however, given the way this bill came into existence and all of the issues that have been revealing about its cost and impact on both business as well as individuals, the Democrats will be at a disadvantage to package and sell a replacement to the electorate.
JamVet
March 28th, 2012
10:35 am
Becky, welcome to the world of Republispeak.
For example:
Where on earth are the liberals getting the idea that there will be no cost to them…
Have you ever seen anyone of any note, standing or credibility ever state this? Neither have I.
But I assure you it exists in the dark, dank recesses of neocon minds…
Aquagirl
March 28th, 2012
10:35 am
Well, Steve and I seem to have a disagreement over six inches vs. three inches.
Jefferson
March 28th, 2012
10:35 am
This idea that ER’s have to take everyone in is not completeley true. If they don’t, they get ZERO gov’t funds. This is why they do it. Without the funds they couldn’t stay in business. Without medicare, hospital would close and costs for those left to pay will be out of sight. The insurance companies would be squeezed if the taxpayers didn’t line their pockets.
Libertarian
March 28th, 2012
10:35 am
willydoit?
March 28th, 2012
10:33 am
This is true. Makes you wonder why everyone gets their panties in a wad…nothing will change either way.
St Simons- island off the coast of New Somalia
March 28th, 2012
10:35 am
Kramer – “St. Simons, why don’t you go live….”
I do live in a banana republic, mon.
And since you’re not familiar with the blog, you apparently don’t
know that I was here first, long before any white man, or before
it was called “Georgia,” and we’ll be here when you Ga Republicans
are gone. And they called Us uncivilized.
Mighty Righty
March 28th, 2012
10:36 am
Brosephus™ you are losing the argument on Obama non affordable health destruction act so you want to talk about Texas. I don’t care about Texas. I am not going to educate myself about Texas. I will believe whatever you say about Texas.
Joseph
March 28th, 2012
10:36 am
Normal, Plain and Simple:
Ignoring facts about a failed Presidency defies logic and shows complete ignorance… Obamacare is history so let’s get on to more important things that affect the lives of everyday citizens….
Don't Forget
March 28th, 2012
10:36 am
Steve
March 28th, 2012
10:26 am
I’m the same weight, at 45, as I was in high school.
You bstd! Jay, get this guy oughta here.
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:36 am
Recon 0311 2533
___________
Believe you have your polll facts wrong. Eighty per cent were dissatisfied with health care as it was.
They BOTH suck
March 28th, 2012
10:36 am
“Actual cost will run each of us somewhere around $1000 per month.”
Link from an unbiased source?
Thanks
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:37 am
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:34 am
REad this reaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllll slow and try to understand:
But if I was not able to do that he would be uninsured and you would be paying for his healthcare from Grady. Get it?
Now you Reeeeeeeeeead slow and try to comprehend. I would rather pay for your husband at Grady then pay for a bill that is bloated and depending on your husbands age he can be turned down for care with this bill. Most of you liberals have not taken the time to read the bill. you only listen to those politicians calling it the second coming of Jesus.
Butch Cassidy
March 28th, 2012
10:38 am
So let me see if I follow the logic: If you don’t buy heath insurance, and you get sick, it’s your problem and you shouldn’t expect the government to fix it for you. However, If you buy a gigantic SUV that rolls around at 10 MPG and gas prices start to go up, it’s not your problem and government should be expected to fix it.
Gotcha.
CJ
March 28th, 2012
10:39 am
Th debate surround mandates is both surreal and inane.
Yesterday, in their arguments, opponents of the mandate said that it would be constitutional if Congress had raised everybody’s taxes by $2,000, and then given everybody who purchases health insurance a $2,000 tax credit. The result would be that people have a choice of purchasing health insurance or paying $2,000 to the IRS.
On the other hand, they argue, it’s unconstitutional to tell people that they must purchase health insurance or pay a $2,000 penalty. Of course, the end result is precisely the same: people have a choice of purchasing health insurance or paying $2,000 to the IRS.
No practical difference. None. But if you use one set of semantics, the law is unconstitutional…and if you use another set of semantics, then the law is constitutional.
If the court decides that the mandate is unconstitutional because of the semantics of the legislation, semantics that conservatives have been using and pushing for decades (until Obama embraced them), then these justices will have revealed themselves as being political tools for the exclusive benefit of one political party. And that would be devastating.
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:40 am
77 per cent say health care system needs fundamental change. Poll taken in 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/health/policy/21poll.html
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:40 am
St Simons- island off the coast of New Somalia
March 28th, 2012
10:35 am
Kramer – “St. Simons, why don’t you go live….”
I do live in a banana republic, mon.
And since you’re not familiar with the blog, you apparently don’t
know that I was here first, long before any white man, or before
it was called “Georgia,” and we’ll be here when you Ga Republicans
are gone. And they called Us uncivilized.
Gee, that makes my opinion about you all so different. My my, you certainly have a high opinion of yourself St. Sorry big man, we will be here long after you are deep in the ground or spread on some beach. That has got to hurt ya’.
JamVet
March 28th, 2012
10:41 am
From Votevets…
There is an absolutely amazing veteran running for US Senate in Arizona, and you have to hear his story. Richard Carmona is running to take the seat being vacated by Senator John Kyl. This is a very winnable seat – with the right candidate. Richard Carmona is that candidate. He needs our help, though.
Born to a poor Hispanic family in New York City, Dr. Richard Carmona experienced homelessness, hunger and bleak prospects for a future education and economic opportunity. The child of parents who emigrated to the United States and struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse, Rich learned tough early lessons about economic disparities and social injustice – an experience he has never forgotten, and one that has given him an understanding of how culture, health, education and economic status shape our country.
Like his siblings and many of his friends, Rich dropped out of high school. With few skills and little education, he enlisted in the Army and went to Vietnam. Military service gave him discipline and a drive to succeed that he still carries today. In order to apply for Special Forces and become a combat medic, he earned his high school equivalency degree. Rich left the Army a combat-decorated veteran, with two Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, a combat medical badge and numerous other decorations to mark his service.
When he returned home from Vietnam, Rich became the first member of his family to earn a college degree, and later received his medical degree. In 2002, Carmona was nominated by the president and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate to become the 17th Surgeon General of the United States.
Rich’s story is an amazing one, and I only scratched the surface. Click the link above to view a bio video of him, and help out his campaign. Let’s send Richard Carmona to the Senate!
Maybe the Arizona Republicans can swiftboat him…
BADA BING
March 28th, 2012
10:42 am
If obamacare dies, then it should have had better insurance.
Aquagirl
March 28th, 2012
10:42 am
I would rather pay for your husband at Grady
Yeah, that’s why Cobb, Cherokee, and other counties are just begging to help pay for Grady instead of freeloading off the available care. Oh, wait….
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:43 am
77 per cent say health care system needs fundamental change. Poll taken in 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/health/policy/21poll.html
++++++++
Sorry, poll said 85 per cent wanted system changed.
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:43 am
Oscar, the latest polls show the country either split or more epople not wanting the bill. Even the latest NYT poll states that the majority do not think we can afford it. We need change but, not change we can not afford and cramed down our throats like this bill was.
Kramer
March 28th, 2012
10:44 am
Aquagirl, Grady is a mess of an operation and you know it. You think this bill would make Grady a better hospital? Oh hell no!
Steve Atl
March 28th, 2012
10:44 am
Between gas prices, unemployment, the deficit, and the Obamacare mess…I think I am going to have to go with Romney in 2012.
Old Timer
March 28th, 2012
10:45 am
At the heart of our medical cost problem is that we believe that physicians ought to be generously compensated. Here we have a trade group that artificially restricts the supply of physicians through such barriers as limiting the number of medical schools and allowing physicians to control the licensing process. It’s the last remnant of the medieval guild system.
In fact, on average, US physicians earn twice as much as physicians in other countries. Don’t believe me? Look at the following study:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=US+vs.+foreign+compensation+for+physicians&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldsalaries.org%2Fgeneralphysician.shtml&ei=3CFzT5aKHIK3tweR5_yMBg&usg=AFQjCNFJZ6r4OsTWUF8lILsj9wv3ypvRnw
You are literally urinating in the wind if you think that there’s some magical insurance formula for providing affordable healthcare to US citizens. We pay nurses who earn very rigorous BN degrees peanuts, but we think it’s perfectly OK if a licensed physician pulls in a half million bucks per year. Until there’s fundamental reform in the US medical industry, nothing you do, including implementing Obamacare, will matter.
Becky
March 28th, 2012
10:46 am
Kramer-the problem with you other than you are an obnoxious a$$ is that you have no other plan you just want to complain about this plan.
You state we need change. Got any ideas???
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:46 am
Kramer
—————
I was replying to what Recon said about the polls taken in 2009 before the heath care bill was proposed. Not what present polls say about the bill.
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:46 am
Kramer
—————
I was replying to what Recon said about the polls taken in 2009 before the heath care bill was proposed. Not what present polls say about the bill.
Oscar
March 28th, 2012
10:46 am
Kramer
—————
I was replying to what Recon said about the polls taken in 2009 before the heath care bill was proposed. Not what present polls say about the bill.
DawgDad
March 28th, 2012
10:46 am
“If Obamacare dies, what then?
1. We get this measure of our freedom back. Possibly, just possibly, the Government won’t control whether or not I have access to health care in my lifetime
2. The potentially uncheckable tyranny of Federal Government coercion is reigned in, at least for the moment
3. An opportunity ONCE AGAIN exists for debate of free-market approaches to insurance reforms, debate which was summarily suppressed by the Democratic Congress and Administration in the passage of Obamacare
If I can live with $3.75 and up gas prices to preserve free markets I can live with the aftermath of killing Obamacare. I welcome the opportunity with open arms. Live free or die.
Butch Cassidy
March 28th, 2012
10:46 am
Steve Atl – “Between gas prices, unemployment, the deficit, and the Obamacare mess…I think I am going to have to go with Romney in 2012.”
Do you also feel that by ordering Millier Lite instead of Miller that you are accomplishing significant change as well?