They took the money out of my pocket to pay for other’s health care and insurance.
It was a huge wealth redistribution from the middle working class to the non-working and the working poor class.
It also shifted in theory money from the young to the old, except a lot of the young just didn’t buy health insurance and were covered by their parents longer.
Hard to pay a penalty on your tax return when you don’t make enough to require a tax return in the first place.
Exactly right.
There are several ways to deal with medical care costs.
First & foremost, level the playing field. A law which makes it illegal for any care provider or medical facility to charge two different patients different prices for the same procedure, but that cash discounts were allowed, would do wonders. I have insurance, and am always amazed when I get a statement showing that the Dr. charged $180 for an office visit, but that the negotiated rate was $16.83 for that and he has waived the remaining amount. If I could pay the $16.83 I wouldn't want or need insurance in the first place. But if I go in without insurance I pay $180.
Not only is the price lower, but the Doc has to hire a special employee just to file the fool insurance claims. If we eliminated her I bet he could make money at $12 for the office visit.
Secondly break the AMA stranglehold on the field. Let me choose to go to a full-fledged Dr. with a degree and a diploma, just a first aid provider for a lot lower price, or something in between. A first aid provider would be able to tell me if I needed more than he could do.
Third, reform the rules for the health insurance industry. Right now, they have an incentive to deny every claim and then only pay after it has been re-submitted. This is a huge waste of manpower. They pay people salaries to deny the claims and then end up paying them anyway. The salaries are wasted.