FYI

[brynndragon]

Today at 3PM on WBUR (90.9 FM and online at WBUR.org) fucking Romney and members of the state legislature will be discussing the new health care plan with the public. I'll be listening, because I want to know if my (and some friend's) impression that this is taking a nice notion[1] and turning it into a nightmare for people who are eking out a living or are (or become) GoLs[2].

[1] No matter how feasible you think it is (I'm up in the air about it myself), quality health care for everyone (aka universal health care) is a fabulous idea.

[2] Gentlepeople of Leisure, also known as the unemployed

Comments

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

Ah, OK. c1, that's the amount of the tax penalty for anyone who doesn't get insured, supposed to reflect half the cost of getting health care (I wonder if they're going to raise that to $1800 since they're now working with a base of $300/month?). I'm compared a person who doesn't get health care coverage for themselves to a company that doesn't pay at least partially for health care coverage for its employees, where the company is paying 1/4 of what an individual pays for what seems to me to be the same behavior (actually, the company gets a better deal, since they only need to partially pay for the coverage). That just feels wrong to me.

The answer to this difference when the host of the piece on NPR was, "But the insurance will be so damn cheap, everyone will have it!" Sounds like a smoke-and-mirrors response to me. My fears that the companies get off light, the private insurers get more money, and the taxpayer gets the shaft were most definitely not reassured.