Replies

At first the fine may be cheaper than buying the insurance, but if Massachusetts is any predictor, then the fines will increase until pretty much everyone joins.

Well, the fines are set by law, aren't they? Or does HHS have the statutory authority to jack up the fines as they feel necessary (and if they do, wouldn't that be a violation of the Constitution and Sep of Powers, given that the fines have been defined as "taxes" by our beloved Chief Justice?)

My understanding is that while the fines are on a graduated scale for the first couple of years, they are capped. And there's a threshold where the number of people choosing fines over insurance no longer generates enough revenue flow into the system to keep it afloat.

One thing that I've wondered is if it would be possible to crash ObamaCare though what amounts to a medical denial of service attack: flood the healthcare system past the point of saturation by making an appointment to see doctors for every little thing. There's going to be rationing regardless. Going to see a doc for every bruise and scrape (even demanding tetanus shots?) is going to add the kind of burden on the entire system as the uninsured current add to going to hospital ERs for minor ailments ...

When I worked for the Army I saw things I cold not believe. I was the OIC of a MEDDAC ER. I literally saw folks in the ER for paper cuts and broken finger nails. I am not kidding. What you propose is not going to be some subtle “go Galt” way of killing it, it will be folks who feel they deserve the “free stuff”. I am not kidding. One Sunday afternoon we were very busy and I noticed there was an E-7 in uniform in the waiting room. I really tried to move the Active Duty guys along and felt bad he had to wait for a couple hours. I apologized when I finally got to him (after having seen some 25 folks in the previous 2-3 hours. He had a garden variety tension headache. He needed Tylenol. I told him as much and he thanked me. I was really sort of “as the Brits say, gobsmacked.” I asked him, “Let me see if I understand this, you knew what you had wasn’t serious and that Tylenol would take care of it and you could buy a bottle at the PX for a couple bucks but you waited here in the ER waiting room for two hours or more?” He answered, “Yeah, it’s free here.”

Good luck with Obamacare. LOL. It was NEVER going to be what ANYONE thought.