Various media are reporting that the Supreme Court has upheld the individual mandate that requires the purchase of insurance as a tax.
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That is what the Democrats have done and it's about time that they started REFUSING to compromise and moved this country back from the far-right policies it currently has to the centrist or liberal policies that did so well in the 1950's and 1960's.
I.E. they physically cannot work or have mental problems that prevent them from working. Not in any other situation. It's maybe a bare 1% of American who 'don't work' because they do not wish to. A good number of them actually are working, I would say, yet are in facets of the economy that are illegal such as the drug trade or prostitution, which I personally feel should be legal.
Also, yes, there are enough primary care doctors on the planet. I personally only have to go to my primary care doctor once a year for a routine checkup that takes a grand total (once he sees me) of 5 minutes. Maybe once every 3 during that routine checkup he sends me for a blood test, like he did this last time because my glands were swollen when I came in though I had no signs of illness.
it's as I keep on telling people: without the lower-level workers in a business, the business would cease to exist very goddamned quickly. Even in our roboticized to an extent world.
Anything over 5% profit, he was of the opinion (as a conservative and Republican) that lawmakers and law enforcement should be looking into the business in question for them ignoring regulations meant to protect workers and doing some 'funny business' with the books. 15% profit is WAY over and above what a legitimate business should be getting per year.
2. @ Christopher. You are absolutely correct, sir.
The general statement that you made about there being enough family doctors to serve the entire US population is totally wrong. The vast majority of new doctors that have entered the healthcare arena over the past 15 years have chosen specialized fields over primary care because this type of medicine pays much more. The statement about your personal healthcare experience has nothing what so ever to do with the number of primary care doctors currently practicing ,and your notion is wrong....If you do your homework before posting such ridiculous statements you would better understand the process.
Could you please provide an example of your claim here...
Without corporations we don't have jobs.When the economy was booming most large companies provided healthcare packages to their employees. A law was passed where they didn't have to provide insurance if the employees didn't work a certain number of hours.Who did that help.? Easier to bring employees on board but it didn't help if the employee got sick. Too many jobs went overseas so we could get cheap goods, We made oil rich companies very rich by depending on their oil. We give huge amounts of money to countries to buy their loyalty.If we ALL understand that supporting this country is more important than supporting the world the price of healthcare wouldn't be an issue.Everybody has to get off their posterior and pull their own weight .Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country. Seems I heard that before.
A 1% profit is MORE than enough for any legitimate business. If a business is making much more than 5 times that (the maximum where the economic professor said things start looking hinky) it's time to step in and do an investigation based on them 'cooking the books'. Funny thing is that if they had done that, Madoff's financial hijinks wouldn't have gone unnoticed.
You can read all the cases of the high tech and agriculture companies being whacked over that in the papers and online to see my point.
I must agree with the outcome only because now we know it is a TAX it can be repealed with only 51 votes. Thanks Justice Roberts.
Has anyones premiums gone down? Anyone?
I have no idea, since my employer covers my insurance, but I do know that they/I am receiving a pretty massive rebate check because the companies used didn't spend enough under the 80/20 and 85/15 section of the law. I used Golden Rule prior to joining the firm I'm with and they sent me a hefty check because "In your State, Golden Rule did not meet the Medical Loss Ratio Standard. In 2011, Golden Rule spent only 66.4% of a total of $47,345,151.000 in premium dollars...Golden Rule must refund 13.6% of your health insurance premiums." For my current insurance w/my employer (UnitedHealthcare), I also got a letter saying a refund was being given to my employer for the same reason (except that fell under the 85/15 rule). I'm not sure how big that check will be yet - fingers crossed! Could this law have been better? Sure, they had to water it down to get it passed. But this is honestly the best law I've seen passed by the Fed Govt in a long time. To take one of the worst industries in America and force them to do basic things like cover people with preexisting conditions and not price gouge is a huge step forward for literally hundreds of millions of people. Once fully enacted, I'm supremely confident this is a signature piece of legislation that generations of Americans will look back and see as wildly successful. I know I'm enjoying the extra money already.
Sorry, I should clarify that the letter from UnitedHealthcare said my employer was being reimbursed and that the company would then reimburse me directly. Help people with preexisting conditions receive care, help children up to the age of 26 receive care, and require refunding unspent premiums (beyond 15% profit for the company - maybe now they will stop spending billions of our dollars on lobbying Congress and running ads!). This is zero chance this doesn't go down in history as a wildly successful step forward for healthcare reform. Bravo to the President who refused to back down, not because he ever thought it'd be politically easy or immediately popular. He did it because he knew the system was broken and, unlike 30 years of politicians before him, he "walked the walk" and did not waiver until reform finally passed, no matter how much Republicans dragged their feet in offering exactly nothing to any debate (healthcare and beyond) except universal disdain towards every topic this President even mentions. To get this law passed in this political environment is truly impressive. Certainly everyone agrees on that, at least.
Wow! Now the democrats redefine what "children" are! If you have "children" and they are in their 20's you have failed at being a parent. My premiums have gone up 40% in 2 years. Don't hold your breath waiting for that "refund" check. Your employer has no obligation to send you one. They can use the check to help pay their part of the contribution next year and help keep the total costs down for all . It doesn't matter though since President Romney will repeal and replace what would have become another program like Medicare which is broke. At least ONE person in Congress has proposed a plan. That man will be the next Vice President. Hmm. Where IS Crazy Uncle Joe anyway? He has been AWOL this past few weeks. Is he at the dentist getting those feet out of his mouth?
"If you have "children" and they are in their 20's you have failed at being a parent." First, apparently you need to look up what the word "children" mean. You're still somebody's child, even though you appear to be a bitter, old man. Second, the fact that you're incapable of imaging a situation where a 20-something might be unemployed, underemployed, seeking an advanced degree, or in a field that commonly doesn't provide health insurance, shows how pathetically out of touch you are. But I'm sure the millions of parents you just insulted appreciate it. "Don't hold your breath waiting for that "refund" check. Your employer has no obligation to send you one. They can use the check to help pay their part of the contribution next year and help keep the total costs down for all ." First, I love how you said that as if it's a bad thing. Employers having lower insurance costs! Oh my, what has Obama done! He's so anti-business! Second, as I said, I've already received my refund from Golden Rule and my refund from UnitedHealthcare is coming directly from my employer. Thanks for your concern, though. The rest of your comment is nonsensical gibberish about uncles and feet. Nice one.
First, you're delusional if you think the GOP is going to end up with 60 seats anytime soon. Second, you have little grasp of Senate proceedings. Good try, though.
http://www.myhealthwebsite.org