Say It Ain't So Already

The “Health Care Reform Bill” Revealed (It Ain’t Pretty)

January 5, 2010 at 12:32 PM Leave a comment

Here’s a long-ish but detailed and thorough article about what a total piece of shit the “health care reform bill” we’re likely to end up with is.  It’s actually scary.  The worst part is penalizing people for not buying insurance.  I didn’t realize that part of the bill was this bad:

Under the plan as it stands, everyone would be required to buy health insurance, or face a stiff fine of as much as $1200 from the IRS for a family. People earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level (that would currently be approximately $13,000 a year for individuals or $30,000 a year for a family of four, except in Hawaii and Alaska where the numbers are slightly higher), and less than four times the federal poverty level ($40,000 for an individual or $88,000 for a family of four), would be given a subsidy to help them buy that insurance. But they would be expected to pay as much as 12 percent of their income out of pocket for coverage, up to a limit of $5000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family. (I’m just trying to imagine how that would hit a family earning $88,000 a year. First of all, it seems clear to me that many hard-pressed families will look at the costs, just decide can’t afford it, and pay the IRS penalty.)

This.  Is.  Insane.

The author encourages states’ attorneys general to sue the government in an effort to keep some of the provisions from being implemented.  I agree.  Some of them, like the one above, just plain cannot go into effect.  They are awful.  It’s gobsmacking.  What are the Democrats thinking?

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