The BEST thing that could happen for the Political Future of the Democratic Party...

[bvar22]

...is for the MANDATE to be struck down.

It was estimated that over 50 Million Americans were without Health Insurance by the end of 2010.
Conservative estimates project over 70 MILLION Americans will be without Health Insurance by 2014.

Here is what Obama said about Mandates to Purchase Insurance in 2008:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acc6Wn_BWlk


If 40 Million to 70 MILLION already hard pressed Americans are forced to BUY Junk Insurance they can't afford to use due to High Co-Pays/Deductibles, they are going to be PISSED.

Even with partial subsidies, the MANDATE will force millions to pony up cash from their pockets every year,
and send it to a BIG, Wealthy Corporation that:
*Manufactures NOTHING,
*Provides NO service,
*Produces NO Value Added WEALTH,
*And PROFITS from denying Health Care to sick Americans.

Americans in the Lower Middle Class, who can least afford it, will be hit the hardest,
and most of them are unaware of what is coming.
If this BOMB explodes in 2014, and MILLIONS of Americans are forced to dig deep in their pockets for CASH they desperately need for other things like FOOD or Electricity, they are going to be very unhappy,
and they WILL blame the Democrats,
and rightly so.

The Democrats passed a Republican Insurance SCAM
without forcing the Republicans to take ANY responsibility.
All the Republicans have to do is sit back and say, "Yep. We voted against it,"
and Democrats will be unelectable for a generation.

The VERY best thing that can happen for the political future of the Democratic Party
is for The Mandate to die a very quiet death at the hands of the court.
That way, The Democratic party can just walk away from this disaster.
Otherwise,
there WILL be a Perfect Storm in 2014.




Who will STAND and FIGHT for THIS American Majority?
You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity!




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[pnwmom]

1. It won't be "junk insurance." The benefits will be standardized

and no one will be kicked off their plan because they get sick.

[bvar22]

3. It IS "Junk Insurance"

.. when somebody can't afford to pay the Deductible or the Co-Pay.
In fact, it is WORSE than Junk Insurance.
In that scenario, it will be Worthless Insurance.

There WILL be many, MANY Americans (Millions?) who WILL be in that exact situation in 2014.
Looking at the Economic Forecasts for the next two years,
it looks like there will be MORE, not LESS.
Especially hard hit will be the unemployed & unemployable due to age (55 - 65),
but ineligible for Medicare.
I will be one of them.



Solidarity!




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. I was uninsured for a year, because the premiums for high-deductible insurance

at my age are prohibitive and actually prevented me from paying for CARE for an injury.

I am insured again, but only because I inherited a bit of money (not enough to retire on, but enough to act as a cushion), and my financial adviser told me that I'd better get some sort of insurance or else the hospitals, etc. could and would come after me for every penny.

So now I have a very high deductible policy strictly as asset protection.

[EFerrari]

11. Protection is right, it's a racket. n/t

[CrispyQ]

23. "...I have a very high deductible policy strictly as asset protection. "

And this is acceptable in "the greatest nation on Earth."

~sigh. So sad.

[Scuba]

5. "Insurance" is a euphemism for "junk insurance". n/t

[Tom Rinaldo]

10. Here is the "junk" part for many.

People who are hard pressed as it is to make ends meet will have to spend hundreds of dollars a month on insurance that won't kick in until after they pay a large deductible out of pocket. Now if they end up with some horrible disease thy will be glad they have that insurance, true. Other than that though they will be spending several thousand dollars a year in order to have insurance that they can't use unless they can also pony up large co-pays and thousands more in deductibles first.

I'm in that situation now. I am forced to gamble. Because I am not spending hundreds of dollars a month for insurance that I would have to save up to use, I can afford a few preventative health measures and maybe one trip to the emergency room.

[eridani]

20. I went the shitty insurance route, hoping I can hold out until 11/1/2011

If I were younger, I couldn't afford that.

[eridani]

19. "Bronze" pays only 60% of costs, and that sure the hell IS junk insurance n/t

[northoftheborder]

2. There will be no way to hold costs in check.

[inna]

4. ... would be Obama running as a Republican.

Sorry, that was an immediate (almost visceral) reaction to the title of your post, before I even opened the thread.


So true, though - even though of course that's not going to happen.



And OMG - Perry is just absolutely frightening; the national nightmare might be just about to start, speaking in comparative terms.

[TheKentuckian]

7. Truth

[EFerrari]

8. Thank you. n/t

[alsame]

9. I agree with you 100%, but I'm afraid the SCOTUS will uphold

the mandate precisely because the industry wants all that money. Yep, a political disaster. It wasn't by accident that they pushed the mandate back to 2014.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. But..but..Obama made a great deal with the pharma industry to get it passed.

We should be grateful for that and the swell deal just made to institute the Cat Food Commission 2.0.

[truedelphi]

13. SCOTUS ain't ever going to kill the opportunity for their buddies who head

Big Insurers to not get every last Friggin' penny off of the sick bodies of us in the lower classes.

[truedelphi]

14. K & R and I do

Share your sentiments.

I just don't think SCOTUS will stop the Health Insurance "reform" effort scam from continuing to be law.

[slipslidingaway]

15. knr - can we discuss a national HC plan for all :( n/t

[amborin]

16. absolutely! the mandate was/is unacceptable w/o a robust Public Option (which voters were promised)

[swilton]

17. AMEN!

[slipslidingaway]

18. ALERT: The private insurers are taking over!

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/444

"... Think back on how health care reform played out. Hospitals and physicians meekly supported the process mostly out of fear that their lot would be much worse off if they weren't there during the process. But who was placed in control, with representatives actually writing the Affordable Care Act? The insurance industry! Everyone will be required to purchase their products, Medicaid is being converted to managed care organizations, and Medicare Advantage private health plans have been expanding. The private insurers are being given control of much of our national health care spending.

Look what the insurers are doing with that control. In the full version of the article provided at the link above and in many other information resources, you will see that the insurers are very busy trying to buy up enough of the health care delivery system to gain control of the health care markets. They will not only be the money managers for health care, but they will replace the current owners of the health care delivery system. In the worst possible outcome imaginable, they will be the actual providers of our health care!

Karen Ignagni of Americas Health Insurance Plans stated repeatedly during the reform process that the measure must provide effective mechanisms of controlling costs. It doesn't. But now that the insurers are gaining total control, they will be able to bring us cost containment, but on their terms. How? As the CFO of WellPoint states, by owning the delivery system, they will be able to "manage care at the front end." They will use their own doctors to prevent "overuse" and "protect their profits."

..."

[GeorgeGist]

21. That's the BEST you came up with?

Serious FAIL my friend.

[chill_wind]

22. K & R. n/t

[area51]

24. +1

It's interesting seeing the number of democrats on this board supporting the 1993 republican health care plan.

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.; that's 100,000 preventable deaths per year. This is not only a moral issue, but a national security issue that we're so vulnerable given that our health care delivery system is so fragmented and dysfunctional.

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.

We don't need the GingrichCare of mandated, unregulated, for-profit insurance that is still too expensive, only pays parts of medical bills, denies claims, bankrupts and kills people.

Republinazi '93 plan:

"Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005."

"We will never have real reform until people's health stops being treated as a financial opportunity for corporations."

"Employer-based health insurance has always been a bad idea. Your life should not depend on who you work for." -- T. McKeon

"Any proposal that sticks with our current dependence on for-profit private insurers ... will not be sustainable. And the new law will not get us to universal coverage ...." -- T.R. Reid, The Healing of America

"Despite the present hyperbole by its supporters, this latest effort will end up as just another failed reform effort littering the landscape of the last century." --John Geyman, M.D., Hijacked! The Road to Single Payer in the Aftermath of Stolen Health Care Reform