One of the biggest arguments with the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is that some people do not like to do what they are told. I fully support the freedom of choice and if people choose to go with out insurance and pay the annual fine because they want to, why not?
The main goal of the ACA is to make health insurance affordable and accessible for more Americans. I think it will do that. People have not gotten insurance because they were told they had pre-existing conditions, low income, or whatever reason. Now there are options for all.
A recent story listed some people and why they did not want to have health insurance. That is clearly their choice and as the penalties rise in the coming years more of them may change their minds. Also, as people age they have a tendency to develop ailments which need expensive treatments.
I think in the future, there will be care for families with small children and they will grow up with health insurance and expect to continue you having it. I do think there will always be those who choose not to. That is their choice.
Me I will always have health insurance.
1 comment:
What we really need is Universal Single Payer Health Care, like every other 1st & 2nd world country. We'll never get costs under control until then. But that's a battle for another day.
The problem with people who opt out is that when they do get sick, they will absolutely opt in at that point. And for those who suffer accidents or sudden illness that prevents this, we will have them in the free care pool, even tho they have not paid into the system.
We already see this in Massachusetts. People have been able to come here from other states to take advantage of our superior system (which is why state based solutions will not work.
Opting not to participate is akin to those families who choose not to vaccinate their children, preferring to rely on others to keep the "herd" free of illness. Yet when their kids do get sick, they do not hesitate to take them into Doctors offices where they infect babies too young to be vaccinated. This is beyond unfair, it's cruel.
The penalties for not participating will be low this year, and will climb in coming years. This is the only way to make this work, but single payer would be a much better and more efficient way to go.
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