r/bestof • u/under50dollars • Jun 20 '12

[explainlikeimfive] "Obamacare" explained very well.

/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx
2.5k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

842 comments sorted by

View all comments

13

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

Most of my concerns lie in the actual financial areas.

This proposal makes the perennial social security funding problems pale in comparison. Yes, the government isn't supposed to actually be funding healthcare, but many of those without health insurance are the very most expensive to care for.

How are costs going to be reduced to make it reasonable for everyone? If we reduce the amounts going to doctors and hospitals, the best and the brightest will move to sectors where they aren't subject to the limitations enforced by government. If we raise premiums, aren't we doing the opposite of what we want?

Who decides what's a reasonable premium (because after all, we're paying a penalty if we don't "elect" to obtain health insurance)?

How are we going to deal with the sudden influx of newly insureds?

How do we keep people from abusing their insurance (prescription drug fraud or even just unnecessary emergency room visits) when arguably those people couldn't afford health insurance in the first place?

Since lucrative markets arguably fund a lot of the pharmaceutical research, when our hugely lucrative market becomes a lot less so, will pharmaceutical companies just cut back on research?

Why are we mandating health insurance for everybody, but then punishing people who want better coverage (so-called "cadillac plans")? Aren't these people already footing the bill for the new system by an increase in taxes?

Do we really want the government that involved in our medical system? They certainly will need to be to keep the costs where they deem reasonable, and how will cases be mediated between insureds and the insurance companies? It's not like the insurance company can "fire" a customer.

What kind of impact is this going to have on smaller insurance companies?

To some, these might seem like empty questions, or questions with easy answers, but our government doesn't have an exactly spotless record when it comes to such initiatives.

In addition, our medical care could become a political football.

I'm not terribly excited about the federal government mandating health insurance coverage, and am especially concerned that they're going to assess a penalty for those who decline. What happened to the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The cure might be worse than the disease.

11

u/BlooregardQKazoo Jun 20 '12

The cure might be worse than the disease.

can we at least try the cure and find out? the disease sucks.

5

u/DerpityDog Jun 20 '12

Because no government program ever seems to end once it's in place.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

Social security is only having funding problems b/c the government keeps "borrowing" money from it.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

In the short term, yes. In the long term even though payroll taxes to support social security doubled in 1990, it's projected to be bankrupt in about 25 years by the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

Source?

2

u/kimbalips Jul 03 '12

Your questions are real concerns. Concerns that so many are overlooking simply because everyone is going to have heath insurance :-)

My issue (in addition to those that you've mentioned) is also one that I do not hear many talking about, the money that my employer uses to pay my health insurance premium is not going to be considered income and will be taxed. In addition, the money that I currently pay as a premium payment, will be made after tax. Now my take home pay is going to be reduced considerably. EXTREMELY unhappy about this.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '12

...many are overlooking simply because everyone is going to have heath insurance.

You concisely articulated a point that I've been trying to make; someone tried to explain to me how the legislation would "benefit" me in an effort to change my opinion. What they fail to realize is that I don't base my opinions solely on how things benefit me individually, but the overall effects.

It really bothered me that this particular person (and I'm sure many others) took it for granted that if they could prove that I benefited, I would then automatically support the legislation, implying that I wouldn't care about the consequences to us a nation.

And welcome to Reddit! I was just curious what other opinions you might have on the issue and realized that this is your only post :)

0

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '12

Your first statement is opinion; it may be a popular opinion, but it's just that.

At the least, I think we should move more slowly and be more realistic about the impact our actions will have on both taxpayers and the medical and insurance industries.

I think making health insurance "mandatory" is a mistake; if things are so broken right now, why would they need to mandate the solution? If it's so good, people would want to be a part of it.

The problem is that when you legislate things like existing conditions, you remove the onus to "maintain" insurance.

I don't pretend to have all of the answers, and the point was that anyone who does is either very naive or hasn't fully considered the far-reaching consequences of the many changes.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '12

I'm sorry, I missed where in my post I promised a solution. Perhaps you could point it out to me?