Home > Uncategorized > NC GOPers: I'll take away your health care, but keep mine of course

NC GOPers: I'll take away your health care, but keep mine of course

Post on January 25, 2011 by 15 Comments »

A copy of the “repeal health care” bill the NC GOP plans to pass as a top priority next week is making the rounds.  It’s pretty simple – the idea is to exempt North Carolinians from the federal health reform law’s requirement that most people (unless you are low income, can’t find affordable insurance, have religious objections, etc.) have to purchase health insurance.

National health reform won’t work without this provision.  We can’t prevent insurance companies from denying or charging people more because of pre-existing health conditions without it.  Why?  If you could wait until you were really sick to buy health coverage then many people wouldn’t buy health coverage until they got sick.  That’s like allowing people to buy fire insurance when their house starts to burn down.  I don’t like paying that big insurance premium on my house coverage every year, but I don’t think anyone would think it fair if I could just not pay that premium and only purchase coverage when disaster struck.

So, remove the responsibility requirement that healthy people have to purchase health coverage before they get sick and the system can’t work.  Only sick people will buy coverage, premiums will skyrocket, and we can no longer require insurers to stop charging people more or denying coverage because of pre-existing health conditions.

Of course, NC GOPers don’t have to worry about not being able to buy coverage.  As I’ve said before again and again, NC General Assembly members are the only part-time workers in the state who qualify for 100% taxpayer-subsidized health coverage.  And, in a special benefit not available to other state workers either, a member of the General Assembly for any length of time can buy into the state health plan at actual cost for life – and not be charged more or denied because of a pre-existing health condition.

So what’s good for them isn’t what’s good for us.  Funny how that works on Jones Street.

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Comments (Closed):13

  1. Carolina Cannabis Coalition
    January 25, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    glad to see the Republicans and Democrats standing for personal liberty and freedom for cancer patients, chronic pain sufferers, and others with debilitating medical conditions to choose our own medication.

  2. JeffS
    January 25, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Insurance is the problem, not the solution. We created much of our problem by masking the true cost of health care.

    Think of it as a 401K. Everyone’s got one, and the only people making money from them are the administrators.

  3. HunterC
    January 25, 2011 at 4:44 pm

    While I’m sympathetic to your hypocrisy argument about the special benefit legislators get, I just can’t get worked up about repeal of the mandatory private buy-in provision.

    It’s not a desirable solution.

    And yes, you can mandate coverage and cost caps in the “private” market.

    I’ll get worked up when a real public option or Medicare-for-all comes back into the discussion.

    This kerfuffle about the mandatory buy-in provision is just arguing over shoveling money to a different corporate master.

  4. Adam Searing
    January 25, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    Well, without requiring people to buy coverage, the whole health reform bill falls apart since you can’t ban insurers from charging more or denying care to people who have been sick like they can now. I’d be happy if there was another comprehensive health care bill out there (or even a viable proposal), but I haven’t seen one yet.

  5. The Mendacity of Hope
    January 25, 2011 at 5:24 pm

    Obama took a real public option and single payer off the table early on as he cut a deal with the for-profit insurers. This guy is such a charlatan.

  6. AdamL
    January 25, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    There was one idea floated during the health reform debate that you could opt out of the individual mandate but then you would not get subsidies and you could be rated based on preexisting conditions for five years. I doubt the proposal will get revived, and I personally prefer eliminating ratings based on medical condition, but it’s an alternative.

  7. UNaffiliated Voter
    January 26, 2011 at 7:20 am

    If you people are happy with automobile and house insurance mandates, surely you wont mind a MANDATE requiring EACH ONE to pay for HIS/HER OWN health insurance. If EACH ONE paid just a minimal amount per month, say $25 – $100 then
    EVERYONE would have equitable access to healthcare.

    What is wrong with a requirement to provide your own insurance unless you are indigent or disabled???

    I just had to let my insurance go when it hit $850/MONTH!!!
    I could afford $200 per month if EACH ONE PAID HIS/HER OWN like it SHOULD BE!!!

  8. nancyD
    January 26, 2011 at 8:23 am

    Bottom line….we all need health care …. Major health care can be very expensive…. So we all need some type of personal insurance to cover the cost…heck, we are already required to have auto insurance why not health insurance?

  9. Jim Aycock
    January 26, 2011 at 9:14 am

    This actually has happened with flood insurance. Residents along the Mississippi River have been able to buy federal flood insurance with the waters arriving only a day or two later, known to be coming, how high, and when it would arrive.

  10. Adam Searing
    January 26, 2011 at 9:27 am

    And the thing about the health reform bill is that most people who can’t afford health insurance now and are uninsured – mostly in small businesses or individual employment – will get substantial tax credits that make that coverage affordable.

  11. Alex O.
    January 26, 2011 at 11:52 am

    What is really happening in this country is people who are on private insurance and own their own homes are now subsidizing those with out insurance and those on Medicare. A MRI may cost $2,000 and someone is on Medicare. The Government pays $1,000. The hospital is left with a $1,000 debt they can’t collect. Another person with out insurance may need that same $2,000 MRI and does not own a home so the hospital can’t collect. A third person with private insurance and owns there own home has a the same MRI and is Charged $3,000, the insurance picks up $2,000 and the person has to pay $1,000 copay. The insurance is a PPO and negotiated the price of the MRI but the hospital still charges extra amount. Costs are added on to we who have insurance for those who do not have insurance and those on Medicare. I want everyone on insurance. I can’t afford to pay for my health care and those of others.

    I continue with my Medical insurance no matter what the cost. I have to ration my care. When I had no insurance because of a layoff I did not go to a Doctor or take medication for years.

  12. Politicalgeezer
    January 26, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    What I see from Adam is fact with a dash of irony. What I see in the comments is rhetoric. What I don’t see is some honest, meaningful debate and ideas on how we solve the health care issues facing our country. Some of us have great health insurance; some not so great; some not at all. Make no mistake that those of us with insurance are paying for those without, in one way or another. Or those folks are uncared for. That I consider shame on us. Are there problems? Are there issues? Are there alternate approaches? Obviously. Let’s talk about those for a change. That’s my 2 cents.

  13. Alex O.
    January 26, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    I am for a single payer system that helps the most people. That means rationing. It means tough choices. That means pooling care and less Specialization. I grew up as a military dependent and the health care was fine with me. Yes and I had some serious medical issues. I would happily be in a hospital ward over a private room. I could live without my HealthSmart Coach my insurance forces me to pay for.

    We are in a Medical Bubble just like the dot com, the banks, and the housing. The bubble is held up by the insurance industry. The Specialization of Medicine has grown too fast and has counted on the Insurance industry to fit the bill. There are Specialty Practices and Diagnostic Clinics everywhere. As people can not pay for these services it will bust.

    When this happens the market will force changes. When you drive by all the Specialty Clinics next time think how many will stay in business as people can no longer pay for their services.

    The New Congress plans to cut Entitlements i.e. Social Security and Medicare for those who are now under 55. This will mean less of us will be able to be health care consumers in the future.

    I do not want free care I want affordable care. To make health care affordable that means sacrifice. I voluntarily gave up a drug my insurance company would pay $2,800 a month for for years to come because it has a small chance of working.I do not have most tests Doctors suggest with out a discussion of the need versus the cost. I take generics. Some are less effective than the name brand drugs but that is okay. The last days of my life I am not going to expect someone to hook me to expensive machinery, while a young person who can not afford health care dies unnecessarily.