"If you like your insurance, you can keep it." So says Mr. Obama and the other supporters of the current health care legislation, soon to be voted on by the Senate.
Conservatives and others with reasonable math skills have disputed this claim. Their argument goes that private employers will cease to provide health insurance to their employees in the event that the health care bill currently before the Senate passes. The question that needs to be answered before the Senate takes up the bill is: Who is telling the truth?
Businesses, you see, exist to make money. Health insurance is a part of an employee's pay. A business has no legal obligation to provide it and an employee cannot demand that the employer provide it. An employee may choose to work only for a business that provides it, thus creating an incentive for other employers to offer it, but they may not compel their employer to provide it. Employers may find that they can only attract and keep good employees by offering health insurance and that also creates an incentive for businesses to do so. That's a free market system. That, aside from some poorly crafted regulations driving up costs and restricting competition among insurers and health care providers, is where we are now.
With this bill, the government is proposing to enter the field of health care. The government wants to regulate the kind of health insurance businesses may offer to their employees. They wish to fine businesses who do not provide that coverage. The fines will be less than the cost of the currently provided insurance coverage for many of the businesses who provide that coverage.
Now the question is: What will those businesses, who currently offer such coverage to their employees do? I have that answer, at least for me. At their quarterly business meeting, the employer who currently provides health coverage to my family announced that they are most likely to stop offering that coverage if the health care bill passes the Senate.
I like my current coverage, I'd like to keep it. I, therefore, encourage my senators, Mr. Kohl and Mr. Feingold from WI to kindly vote "NO".
"We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!" ~ Jer 8:15
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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4 comments:
From the standpoint of the government, this is a win-win. They will collect a fine from the employer, and then they will force the employees to purchase the poor quality health care available through the government. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, I hypothesize that there will be a black market in medical goods and services that will spring up to serve those who refuse to have any more of their medical histories recorded in the government database.
There would likely be an increase in the numbers of people insisting on being paid in cash so that the government won't have access to their money though their bank accounts.
I think that would naturally lead to a decrease in tax collections as it becomes easier and more accepted to pay people "under the table".
How's that for starters?
I have also read that The Tenth Amendment Center is keeping tabs on which states are crafting legislation to refuse to capitulate should it be passed, so that could lead to some interesting times as well. I haven't been able to confirm that though. Our ISP still hasn't resolved our connection issues
Mom, I think you are exactly correct about the blackmarket in medical goods and services. This is virtually certain, particularly if you don't want to wait months for an X-ray, etc.
This will still not provide us a way to get away from paying the government for "medical insurance" or the fine for individuals who do not purchase "insurance."
I think you are also correct about diminished tax receipts. With the Obama approach to taxation, it will be incumbent on every person to do everything possible to avoid paying taxes by every possible means. The "law" is becoming a parody, and no longer has any moral authority, only brute enforcement authority. Thus if someone thinks they have a way to beat a "tax" (which is really simply government extortion), then I think they will be well advised to implement that dodge.
It will be no sin to avoid paying taxes in the future, I think. The government has lost the moral authority to require them from the people. Now the government is simply become a huge oppressor, a gang of thugs. I feel rather strange writing these words, because I have always held strongly to the contrary in the past, but that was when I believed that we had a legitimate government. Now that I no longer believe that, everything changes in that regard.
I'm sorry to hear that the ISP is still unresolved. This is really dragging on.
" Resistance to tyranny is service to God." ~ James Madison
I'm not real happy about the ISP issues myself. Just the thought of having to go through the ever growing number of e-mails (currently 279) when I finally have a connection that won't cycle out every time I try to load, move or delete one is daunting.
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