House to vote on health care reform Sunday.

[DisturbedPervert]

So you have to buy health insurance or be fined?  I hope there will be some scam insurance providers

[Darth Wagtaros]

Coincidentally NRO has a 503 error the day after Healthcare gets passed.  

Their heads exploded.

[crazy canuck]

Here's a short informational film that will help you cope with the transition. You're welcome.
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/NHS60/Pages/BirthoftheNHS.aspx

Sadly the Americans did not create a public system.  Instead they created subsidized private health care.  Not sure how this fixes anything in their system.  More people will have medical insurance coverage but I am not sure what the quality of that coverage will be.

[DGuller]

Aren't people freaking out a bit about this (on both sides)? From what I understand it is pretty much a bunch of minor tweaks making the system more civilized (stuff like the insurers being prohibited to deny health care insurance to people based on a pre-existing condition, so people who get an incurable disease and then lose their work are not suddenly left without any health insurance for example), rather than being some sort of a socialist overhaul (for example there is no public option).

Partially right.  It's no socialist overhaul, that's just the chant to rile up the stupid, but it's no minor tweak either.  It's a major policy shift for people that for whatever reason cannot get insurance through work.  It's also a much needed safety net for people who do have insurance, through work or not, since no one is insured from becoming uninsurable due to a run of bad luck.  On the flip side, some of the measures can also be very disastrous for the private insurance market, and thus make the fix worse than the disease.

[DGuller]

So you have to buy health insurance or be fined?  I hope there will be some scam insurance providers

Insurance is heavily regulated even now, and no doubt will be more heavily regulated under Obamacare.  While you do have scammers who are selling health discount plans as health insurance, or at least there were five years ago when I was uninsured myself and looking for insurance, you won't have the scammers who would be able to fool IRS or insurance regulators.

[MadImmortalMan]

FINALLY. Socialism in America.

You really are quite clueless about the US. Apparently, we are a stereotype and nothing more.

[Caliga]

Interestingly the stock market doesn't appear to be bombing as hard as I would have thought. 

[Caliga]

You really are quite clueless about the US. Apparently, we are a stereotype and nothing more.

It is hilarious how all over Facebook today I am reading people triumphantly declare that "we now have socialized medicine in America".

You'd think if people cared enough to bleat about it, they'd actually bother to figure out what it is they're so supportive of.

Then again, this is Facebook, where people feel it is imperative to let others know when they're tired, or have a headache.

[DGuller]

Sadly the Americans did not create a public system.  Instead they created subsidized private health care.  Not sure how this fixes anything in their system.  More people will have medical insurance coverage but I am not sure what the quality of that coverage will be.

The system of mandatory private insurance with heavy regulation and restrictions does fix a lot of things, when implemented properly (which it probably isn't ATM).  It's not the most efficient fix, but the politics of doing anything better are utterly impossible.

[crazy canuck]

Sadly the Americans did not create a public system.  Instead they created subsidized private health care.  Not sure how this fixes anything in their system.  More people will have medical insurance coverage but I am not sure what the quality of that coverage will be.

The system of mandatory private insurance with heavy regulation and restrictions does fix a lot of things, when implemented properly (which it probably isn't ATM).  It's not the most efficient fix, but the politics of doing anything better are utterly impossible.

I was thinking about the fundamental problem of cost in your system.  I havent read anything to indicate that any of these reforms which addresses the cost of your system.  I dont think it makes much sense for government to essentially underwrite a system where there is no real cost control.  Seems a recipe for huge government expenditure over time.

[Caliga]

I can live with mandatory insurance, because having worked for a medical center up in Boston, I know what happens when people show up at the ER when uninsured: the medical center gets reimbursed by the state for the cost of the person's care.  So, whether people up there realized it or not, they were paying for at least emergency health care for anyone not otherwise covered.

That doesn't mean I think the government will implement and regulate this well, but at least in theory it makes sense.

[Caliga]

I was thinking about the fundamental problem of cost in your system.  I havent read anything to indicate that any of these reforms which addresses the cost of your system.  I dont think it makes much sense for government to essentially underwrite a system where there is no real cost control.  Seems a recipe for huge government expenditure over time.

Yep, you nailed the biggest problem right on the head, cc.

[Martinus]

You really are quite clueless about the US. Apparently, we are a stereotype and nothing more.

It is hilarious how all over Facebook today I am reading people triumphantly declare that "we now have socialized medicine in America".

You'd think if people cared enough to bleat about it, they'd actually bother to figure out what it is they're so supportive of.

Then again, this is Facebook, where people feel it is imperative to let others know when they're tired, or have a headache.

I think the libertards who keep QQing about it all over Facebook are more hilarious, TBH.

[Caliga]

I think the libertards who keep QQing about it all over Facebook are more hilarious, TBH.

I'm shocked.

[Martinus]

I think the libertards who keep QQing about it all over Facebook are more hilarious, TBH.

I'm shocked.

I'm shocked you are shocked.