HCR Passes

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I do not and cannot support being forced or forcing anyone to buy anything.

With this I agree to some degree. Which is why what I really support is single-payer. Make it a government supplied service, not a mandated purchase. We don't need to subscribe to fire department service, why do I need to subscribe to this?

Unfortunately that's not politically viable right now. And it never will be politically viable to go from near-zero government supplied medical coverage to truly universal. My hope is that this is the first awkward step in that direction. That, seeing that the country hasn't fallen apart, Stalin hasn't risen from the grave, and grandma isn't being sent to the gas chamber because her prescriptions are getting costly, the electorate will eventually be able to see beyond the b.s. stigma associated with a "socialist" program and realize that, if we can agree that there's a net benefit to doing so, the best way to do it is to dump the inefficiency of this hybrid system and reap the benefit of a truly government-supplied system.

[Morrigoon]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

With this I agree to some degree. Which is why what I really support is single-payer. Make it a government supplied service, not a mandated purchase. We don't need to subscribe to fire department service, why do I need to subscribe to this?

And though this goes completely against most of my political beliefs (eg: increasing government involvement, taxes), in this instance I think I agree.

"Forcing" people to pay an extra amount every month, one that is not already being paid via deductions from people's paychecks (on a percentage basis, so it rises and falls with income - taxes), is going to cause hardship. And you can throw out all the arguments about responsibility and keeping up with bills that you want, but many Americans have difficulty with this, and will have difficulty with this. If we're creating something universal, let's just let it be through taxes and just plain old COVERED.

And exactly how are they going to enforce this bill on the homeless? Sure, they'll qualify for free coverage, but with no address, how will they stay active in the system?