[Alex]

Originally Posted by alphabassettgrrl

A mandate won't help me get insurance- I don't have insurance because I can't afford it. Forcing me to pay for it won't make it more affordable.

The bill includes not just a mandate, but if you can't afford it, methods for providing you credits that allow you to purchase it anyway.

You want to mandate a low plan that has a set pricetag, we might have something. What I want (personally) is a plan that covers only the big stuff- that I couldn't handle on my own. Like cancer or a car wreck. I'll pay for the preventive stuff that's quick and easy.

Then you don't want the Democratic plan at all even if it does have a public option. All versions of the bill would essentially make such catastrophic coverage impossible.

What I fear is we will get a minimum plan that covers the cheap stuff and still leaves me holding the bag for something big, and that's the one they'll force me to buy.

The main plan being considered requires coverage of all the small stuff, you can't be dropped when you get sick, and has a cap on personal expenditures within a year of $5,000 ($10,000 for a family). After those "deductibles" you're coverage is essentially 100% and unlimited.

This "mandating" buying of insurance is the part that has me most concerned.

Well, the public option wouldn't help with that either. It wasn't to be free. And it wouldn't necessarily be a lot cheaper than current private insurance. That's why it includes affordability credits (if I'm remembering that part of the bill credits were on a sliding scale all the way up to 97% of cost).