The gargantuan Obama tax increase...

[Dave Roberts]

Catching up on a previous post of the net worth of members of Congress, Virginia's Mark Warner was CEO of AOL before going into politics, so his money has nothing to do with his Senate involvement.

[William Thornton]

I started this topic because the SCOTUS decision was not receiving any attention here. That obamacare requires a gargantuan tax increase is self evident to all but those who cannot pry themselves from the democratic daily talking points. We are to insure tens of millions of uninsured. Someone will pay. The gummit has no money. We pay...forever.

But one can see why we have such things. Conservatives like me recognize that the present system is a mess. Folks like Sandy have a high degree of ire aimed at insurance companies, ire that they came by painfully, I suspect. Liberals like KeithE and Timothy think it good policy to have someone else's pocket picked to pay for their and other folk's medical bills. So be it.

I don't usually do much here because we all know each other's positions well enough to type each other's posts.

I will apologize for curt answers the last few days. I've been doing it with my Father's Day IPad and it's a bit tedious and unweildy for such.

...and I'm not mad at anyone, not even Obama.

[Dave Roberts]

I started this topic because the SCOTUS decision was not receiving any attention here. That obamacare requires a gargantuan tax increase is self evident to all but those who cannot pry themselves from the democratic daily talking points. We are to insure tens of millions of uninsured. Someone will pay. The gummit has no money. We pay...forever.

But one can see why we have such things. Conservatives like me recognize that the present system is a mess. Folks like Sandy have a high degree of ire aimed at insurance companies, ire that they came by painfully, I suspect. Liberals like KeithE and Timothy think it good policy to have someone else's pocket picked to pay for their and other folk's medical bills. So be it.

I don't usually do much here because we all know each other's positions well enough to type each other's posts.

I will apologize for curt answers the last few days. I've been doing it with my Father's Day IPad and it's a bit tedious and unweildy for such.

...and I'm not mad at anyone, not even Obama.

Some of us believe that there are problems with the Affordable Care Act that need fixing, but that doesn't mean that you throw the baby out with the bathwater.

BTW, which do you prefer, William. Would you rather the cost of unpaid health care be spread to all citizens or that it be charged only on the bills of those who get sick and have to use the ER or hospital. Ask any medical administrator who is honest, and he or she will tell you that a portion of your bill since you or your insurance pay, will be attributed to the Hill-Burton mandate requiring them to treat those who cannot pay. So, would you rather have it shared by all or just by those who get sick?

[Stephen Fox]

have the high ground to date on this board on this matter.

And do see my reference to the China SBC Missionary and the founder of UAB.

Tort Reform and reigning in the largesse in the health care industry, and it is an industry that has exploded, gotten bloated on unregulated government expenditure.

DAve is right, has many flaws but the alternative not doin nothin seems to worse.

Other than that the fat boys fillin Karl Rove's pockets will continue to have a field day at the expense of anything of virtue in the American system.

[Sandy]

Folks like Sandy have a high degree of ire aimed at insurance companies, ire that they came by painfully, I suspect.

"Painfully," in more than just figuratively speaking. I had a month-long hospitalization back in 2008, the experience of which provided me with ample reasons why the current health care system in this country is worse than in any 15 socialized medicine systems anywhere else in the world. A strep infection, hiding behind my left achilles tendon seems like a simple thing to fix, but throw in an insurance company case worker, who wouldn't allow a couple of simple procedures because they didn't see justification to perform them because of "cost," and what wound up happening was a reaction to medication therapy that caused an almost fatal pulmonary embolism, and complications that kept me in the hospital, delayed surgery, and ran up a $150,000 medical bill with more than $5,000 in out of pocket expenses. I can say "ouch" to both the physical and financial pain.

The fact that the call had been made by the insurance company, and not the physician precluded any litigation. Those companies have taken millions of dollars of your premium payments to put the legal language in place to prevent being sued for this kind of thing, including lobbying and supporting the campaign of mostly Republican politicians who, during the Bush administration, put the restrictions on lawsuits in place.

Also interesting, over the course of the 22 years I had insurance with that particular company, I paid out about $12,000 more in premiums than I received from them in benefits, even with the major hospitalization and surgery. That's not a bad business to be in if you can still make money off of those in the highest risk categories.

[William Thornton]

BTW, which do you prefer, William. Would you rather the cost of unpaid health care be spread to all citizens or that it be charged only on the bills of those who get sick and have to use the ER or hospital. Ask any medical administrator who is honest, and he or she will tell you that a portion of your bill since you or your insurance pay, will be attributed to the Hill-Burton mandate requiring them to treat those who cannot pay. So, would you rather have it shared by all or just by those who get sick?

I don't accept your premise here, Dave, since "all citizens" will not bear the costs.

[Sandy]

BTW, which do you prefer, William. Would you rather the cost of unpaid health care be spread to all citizens or that it be charged only on the bills of those who get sick and have to use the ER or hospital. Ask any medical administrator who is honest, and he or she will tell you that a portion of your bill since you or your insurance pay, will be attributed to the Hill-Burton mandate requiring them to treat those who cannot pay. So, would you rather have it shared by all or just by those who get sick?

I don't accept your premise here, Dave, since "all citizens" will not bear the costs.

You're right. Not all citizens bear the cost now. Only those of us who are responsible, and buy health insurance, and pay our bills bear the costs because they are transferred to us through higher fees we pay for health services and health insurance premiums. Apparently, the Republicans think that it is fair to pass these costs along to us, than it is for companies making billions in profits to absorb them, or to require those who are irresponsible to ante up and pay their own medical bills, or provide their own insurance.