The Massachusetts reform mandated that everyone buy insurance. The results? Emergency room visits rose 7%, emergency room costs increased 17%, and the portion of hospital visits that were not emergencies was unchanged [bglobe1].
In short, we are told the problem is lack of insurance and the solution is more insurance, when actually the opposite is true: mandated insurance increases costs for everyone. After the Massachusetts reform passed, government health care costs increased 42% [nyt1] and are projected to go up an additional 100% over 3 years [bglobe2].
In other words, forcing the uninsured to get insurance is likely to cost us more than the current cost-shifting arrangement, impoverishing the public while the medical and insurance industries laugh all the way to the bank reaping trillions of dollars [uprem] on their $4 billion investment [crp1] in fooling us and buying influence with Washington politicians.
The reasons being given to justify the individual mandate are fallacious and are not the real reasons for reform. The real effect of reform that contains insurance mandates is to engineer a cost-shift from the public, primarily the middle class, to the medical and insurance industries which are already wealthy. Much of it would be done not through taxes but premiums, which are not accounted for by the Congressional Budget Office, since it does not look at the cost to the public, only the cost to the federal government, so we can be sure that the true cost to you and me will be much higher than what Obama or the CBO say.
When people want insurance but are refused, that's unfair. But that can be fixed in a one-page bill, and it makes no sense to create a new injustice by violating the rights of those who do not want insurance or orthodox medicine. A plan adhering to american values will respect diversity in healing choices and not institutionalize discrimination against those who choose to take full responsibility for their health.
In a poll separately asking about reform policy components, one had the strongest consensus: by a 68% to 26% margin the public opposes compelling anyone to buy insurance [quin1]. So the public has not bought into this despite winning axiomatic status with a high percentage of politicians and pundits. Obama campaigned against mandates but now is apparently caving in to the insurance industry. If this reform is to serve the public interest and not special interests, we need to speak more forcefully to get the point across: the reform must be amended to remove the individual mandate to buy insurance.
If a plan is worthy then people will voluntarily sign up. When it has to be forced on everyone, then we know even the advocates themselves do not believe it can stand on its merits, and do not believe it is really in the interest of ordinary people.
references:
[bglobe1] ER visits, costs in Mass. climb, Boston Globe 24 April 2009 click here
[bglobe2] Healthcare Cost Increases Dominate Mass. Budget Debate, Boston Globe, 26 March 2008 click here
[cens1] 202 million privately insured, 250 million insured: Health Insurance Coverage Status By Selected Characteristics, US Census, click here
[critc] Critical Condition: how health care in America became big business & bad medicine by Donald Barlett, James Steele 2004 p15-18
[crp1] Center for Responsive Politics:
$213 million 2008 election cycle campaign contributions:
Health: Long-Term Contribution Trends,
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=H
Insurance: Long-Term Contribution Trends,
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=F09
over $4 billion lobbying:
Lobbying Top Spenders, http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=i
[haffa1] Hospital Emergency Department Use Varies Greatly Across the United States, Peter J. Cunningham, Health Affairs July/August 2006, click here
[haffa2] The concentration of health care expenditures revisited, Berk ML, Monheit AC, Health Affairs 20(2):9-18 2001 http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/20/2/9.pdf
[hahca] House Affordable Health Choices Act, click here
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