Posted on 12/20/2017 3:44:38 AM PST by Libloather
Republicans' tax overhaul gets rid of the tax penalty for people who fail to maintain insurance coverage. If it becomes law, what happens to the deficit and the number of uninsured?
RAY SUAREZ, HOST:
As the House and Senate vote to overhaul the tax code, they're also voting to undo a key part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The bill gets rid of the tax penalty for failing to maintain insurance coverage. It's known as the individual mandate, and it's probably been the most vilified part of the healthcare law. Joining us now is NPR health policy correspondent Alison Kodjak to talk about what happens to Obamacare without the individual mandate. Hi, Alison.
ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE: Hi, Ray.
SUAREZ: So is the assumption that lots of people will simply decide not to buy insurance if there will no longer be a penalty?
KODJAK: Well, some people will.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
I thought this Tax cut bill would kill me like Dems said, but I remembered I already died from climate change and less regulations and NOT fully implementing obamacare and russia.......
When democrats decide that you “need” something, or must do something they want you to do, they will use force of some kind to keep you from making your own decisions about whatever it is.
They can take care of you and your family better than you can.
I am 67 and on Medicare and my wife is 63 and has a policy from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Her Premium would have been $1350 a month for 2018. She just signed up for a medical sharing program and got great coverage for $250/month. ObamaCare is a scam on so many levels..
I totally agree.
Not just on healthcare but on government itself.
The founders understood that. Top down solutions from a distant point never work. In government or in business.
Movement to that goal, will be a step in the direction of restoring our humanity as a nation.
That's a good point, and it's the basis of a lot of confusion about the SCOTUS decision.
People just assume that the SCOTUS declared ObamaCare constitutional in its entirety, but that's not how the court works. The court only made a decision about a specific ObamaCare provision that was subject to the particular legal challenge that brought the case into the SCOTUS in the first place. In that particular decision, it was the constitutionality of the individual mandate that was challenged.
This is where I think Chief Justice Roberts gets a bit of a bad rap here on FR. If you look at the details of that particular challenge to ObamaCare, his decision -- that the individual mandate is constitutional because it is a legitimate "tax" -- is not all that outlandish.
There are plenty of other provisions of ObamaCare that can be challenged on a constitutional basis. Some of the challenges are ongoing. The ones tied to religious exemptions, for example, have a strong chance of success. And the whole idea of government involvement in mandating coverage is unconstitutional, but it's actually not easy for an individual to challenge this core provision of ObamaCare. In a legal process, the only ones who are "victims" of these stupid mandates are the insurance carriers themselves ... and they are all big supporters of ObamaCare.
What this might lead to is going back to low-cost or no-cost alternatives. People taking responsibility for their own well being are going to notice how the money is being spent. Who knows? Some might even live a healthier life style when it's their money on the line.
China still holds $1.2 trillion of US debt and is the largest foreign debt-holder.
https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s-national-debt-3306124
It is very difficult for China to off-load their US debt if they continue as a major trading partner with the US.
It is the modern version of Mutual Assured Destruction. :-)
Jobs, good paying jobs, is the best solution to Obamacare.
Removing regulations that drive up the COST is the best solution to Obamacare.
A focus on who pays, and how much, is the wrong focus.
Most of the medical costs now are not covered under O-care because the deductibles are so freaking high. So unpaid costs are still being subsidized.
Nothing has changed.
next thing to do is increase the number of weekly hours an employees must work in order to be eligible for healthcare...
Well if it’s SO POPULAR as the Rats claim no mandate should be needed to get people to buy it.
There are at least three Christian based alternatives to Obamacare. They have been ruled to be exempt from the Obamacare restrictions.
They are not “insurance” but are cooperative societies. People pay in so much a month at a base level. It is used to pay medical expenses of members (generally major medical)
Only believers are accepted as members.
It there are special needs, people are asked to voluntarily give more.
The system works very well, but subscriber bases are a small fraction of the population.
I think the total is still under a million.
About half the cost of regular insurance, or less.
Not according to the U.S. Treasury.
Don’t think you have to stay away from the doctor if you want to save money. Your insurance plan is required to give you certain types of preventive care and medications for free—that means no copay, and without touching your deductible.,
If you’re putting off a checkup or a tetanus booster because you think you’d have to pay a ton for…
That means you can get vaccines, cholesterol screenings, birth control, and more without paying a cent. Check with your insurance plan about the details; you’ll have to go to an in-network provider, and in some cases there might be an office visit fee. But, by law, all non-grandfathered health plans must provide these freebies. And taking advantage of them will help you keep control of your overall health, which is good for your body and your wallet in the long run."
A high deductible plan that covers "vaccines, cholesterol screenings, birth control", abortions, sex change operations, "certain medications" and psychotherapy without any deductible isn't a high deductible plan. Mandating buying it inflates the cost of "vaccines, cholesterol screenings, birth control" etc. because it smothers market forces and the insurance company and because the provider's billing employees don't work for free. Much cheaper and more efficient to use a walk-in clinic at a drugstore and pay for routine, simple healthcare yourself than to pay for the Obamacare insurance to pay for routine, simple healthcare.
Nope! The only government involvement should be grants for research and intellectual property rights, i.e. patents.
I am doing a health sharing ministry too.
But here is the thing. The rats are using the number of people who “won’t” have to buy insurance as people being thrown off the plan.
It’s a lie and the rats need to be called out on it.
I do not normally listen to NPR because the last time I did it only took about 20 minutes to spot multiple instances of biased reporting. Please let me know when they start reporting honestly.
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