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originally posted by: roadgravel
Allowing health care to be a huge money making business doesn't help.
originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Subaeruginosa
Looking at what you actually pay now, and most Americans are taxed at 50% although they don't really know it.
originally posted by: Snarl
a reply to: FissionSurplus
Remember these words?
And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really really critical for the thing to pass
I just don't understand how 0bamacare got by the SCOTUS. They're all smarter than that. I mean ... people say "I'm innocent," all the time and still go to jail anyway. I thought a Judge was supposed to apply common sense.
Good to see a post from you, FissionSurplus. Was wondering if you had pulled a disappearing act from the boards.
originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Snarl
The judge is supposed to apply the letter of the law. Even IF Obamacare is a tax, it still shouldn't be constitutional as they found parts of it unconstitutional and the idiots who wrote it did not put in a severability clause meaning that if part of it went down, all of it should have, issues of tax or unlawful mandate aside.
But even on the issue of tax, is was not written or passed as a tax. It would not have passed as a tax, but John Roberts suddenly created a new interpretation of plain language that suddenly made it a tax in order to save it. The way things fell out over it in the SCOTUS suggest to some that there was some kind of pressure applied to Roberts that got him to change his actual ruling at the last minute, a conspiracy if you will.
originally posted by: carewemust
Keep in mind that 85% of the people on ObamaCare health plans have a significant portion of their health insurance premium paid by the Government (aka "the US taxpayers"). The law caps the premium liability at 9% of income, for those who earn less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. For these people, if the premium goes up 30% or 300%, they won't notice much of a difference in the amount of money they pay for their monthly premium. That's one of the really deceiving things about this ObamaScrew law. There's a LOT of smoke and mirrors designed to hide the real damage and pain.
The folks who earn more than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level get no premium assistance at all. They have to pay the huge increases. They're voting for anybody but Hillary. She wants to keep Obamacare as is, because in her words, "it's a good law."
originally posted by: AboveBoard
a reply to: ketsuko
We have awesome insurance now. We are done with our deductible usually by March, but that's pretty unusual I guess. This year we met our maximum allowable out of pocket in 10 horrible days.
I'm grateful for what I have and know a lot of people that the ACA has really helped. I'm also frustrated at its shortcomings and how it has made other people's lives more challenging. I would advocate for working to fix it to make it more fair for everyone, or to go with universal health care. Just like the VA, however, it would still be less than optimal in some areas and great in others.
One problem is how uneven it is for folks from area to area/state to state/income to income. There are a ton of factors at play for what people end up being able to choose from and how much it costs them.
The subsidies to the insurance companies are ending, and that was helping to cushion everyone's cost. Thanks to Congress, however, that provision was eliminated as part of a budget deal, so we can all thank them for the further pinch on our pocket book than we otherwise would have had. Yay Congress.
- AB
originally posted by: carewemust
Americans want to feel better NOW, and will pay dearly for that relief from pain, sickness, or physical aging.
originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
originally posted by: Snarl
Anyway, universal healthcare costs anywhere in any country are quite high.
In Australia, universal healthcare is paid for by the GST tax... but by law, only non-essential items can have a 'goods and services tax' on them.
So essentially, universal healthcare is being paid for by people buying things they can already afford... seems ridiculous to me that US citizens tolerated 'Obamacare', but refuse to tolerate full blown universal healthcare under a similar system.
Seems like its just the phrase 'universal healthcare' Americans reject, rather than the actual concept.
But I guess we're all prone to being blatantly petty and superficial at times... I suppose!
originally posted by: FissionSurplus
I have always had the opinion that Obamacare is one big phony lie. It was deemed 'constitutional' by the SCOTUS as a TAX.....so now nobody can afford the plans, and are forced to pay the 'penalty' instead, which is done during tax season and enforced by the IRS.
We've been sold a rotten bill of goods. It has nothing to do with health care, and everything to do with massive tax increases against the middle class. It was never meant to help people, it was meant to allow the government to tax us into poverty.
originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: Snarl
Obamacare is a perfect example of why I would rather have Congress do nothing. It is in the best interest of the people to keep these two crappy mainstream parties in opposition. Obamacare is what happens when one party takes control of both houses and the Presidency.