States going to court over healthcare

The new health care reform bill achieves much of its savings by passing off unfunded mandates to the states – and those state budgets aren’t exactly in a position to absorb large new spending plans.

Meanwhile, some employers are weighing the cost of fines against the cost of rapidly rising insurance premiums, and starting to wonder if it might just be much cheaper to drop employee coverage outright. At most, they’d be required to pay a fine equal to 8% of the worker’s wages – medical costs are closer to 18% of GDP and that means a worker’s insurance costs are likely to be more like 20-25% of their salary since their children and spouses are also covered.

In response, there is a growing movement for legal relief in the federal courts.  Currently, 20 states have signed on to the suit seeking to prevent the healthcare legislation from moving forward.

Complaints about the health reform package will take on many forms:  from questions about the legal role of the federal government and their constitutional legitimacy, to concerns that small businesses and independent contractors will be left out in the cold (once again.)

Conservative violence undermines legit healthcare criticisms

I’m not a particular fan of this health insurance reform legislation. Don’t get me wrong, I think we need serious health care reform in America, but I’m not particularly excited about guaranteeing millions of new customers for a broken system. I’m not looking forward to supporting this system when the mandates kick in – even if my own out of pocket contribution is just a small fraction of what the government pays on my behalf, I’ll feel ripped off.

But any legitimate concerns about the legislation will be drowned out in a growing chorus of violence and threatening rhetoric. Already, politicians and their families have faced death threats and attempts at sabotage, and the discussion on right-wing echo chambers is increasingly radicalized.

There are legitimate reasons to dislike this bill, but the rational arguments are more likely to be considered “further left” in relation to the American political debate. Real reform will have to go far beyond private insurance and toward a goal of basic universal coverage in a low-overhead non-profit environment.

A Healthcare (Insurance) Nightmare

Congress keeps compromising and tweaking their “healthcare reform overhaul” legislation, and every step it gets toward the number of needed votes is a disaster for the actual American people.

By last count, the public option is completely gone, but all U.S. citizens will still be forced by the threat of penalty to buy a private insurance plan. Although there are some regulations in how these private providers can set prices and make their services available, the biggest change for private insurance companies will be that the government is magically coming in to swoop up all the 55 and older folks.

As Medicare absorbs all the older people, the real risk of the insurance companies will drop close to zero – at the same time they have a captive market of 18-55 year olds with little choice in whether or not they want to participate. Fundamentally, the young will subsidize corporate insurance profits, while also paying the taxes necessary to take care of the 55 and older crowd.

Unfortunately, all of the good jobs are still being held by the 50-60 year olds!

Unemployment is a nightmare for the under 30 crowd, and so many people have never officially become a part of the work force because they never got a job after finishing college.

I’ve had enough of this messing around – I’m ready to see Congress come up with a plan for universal coverage that doesn’t simply put pressure on those who haven’t yet bought coverage. If you want everyone under the government’s protection, go ahead and do it.

Just don’t dare force us into supporting private profitability under the guise of doing some great social charity…