Relative wrote:Well its still the same system roughly, but now its a legal requirement to get insurance; there are subsidies for those who can't afford it and are not covered by medicaid; businesses now get tax credits for each employee they give insurance to; insurance companies cannot deny insurance to those with pre-existing conditions or exit from agreements with high-risk customers; children can continue to be covered by their parent's plan until the age of 26 so that they don't have additional costs as they go through education and are still dependent on parents; unrelated small businesses and individuals will eventually be able to buy group policies together to bring down the individual costs of insurance; and a shit load of other stuff.SinbadEV wrote:Sorry, that's the old system I hope right? This new system fixes that?Relative wrote:US:
Person becomes ill or needs a consult - person is then billed for expenses by doctor or hospital - if person has health insurance (personal or through their job) and if the health insurance covers the illness or consult (e.g. might not cover pre-existing conditions, or not cover metal illness) and cost of care isn't below (like most insurance small claims are covered by person) or exceeds limits (pays up to limit unless the plan is unlimited, then costs covered by person). If person doesn't have insurance or the insurance policy doesn't cover their needs then costs may be covered by Medicare (senior citizens) or Medicaid (the very poor). Everyone else personally cover the costs - which in many cases can be crippling if they have a serious condition.
Oh, I suppose another good angle is the "Think of the children" gambit... if a child get's sick should he/she be denied care because his/her parents are poor? The gamble is that to a real Republican is so anti-socialist that their answer to this question is "Yes, their parents should have worked harder to make more money if they wanted to have children."
I kinda feel a little bit sorry for the people of America, their governments can't pass emissions laws because their in bed with the car companies, they can't promote electric cars because their in bed with the oil companies, they can "really" fix health-care because they are in bed with the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers/Insurance Companies/HMOs... essentially the "right" solution would cost inordinate amounts of money to set up and dissolve the entire business model of hundreds of publicly traded companies, costing thousands their jobs... and then embroiling the already complicated system in the works of a horribly corrupt bureaucracy... and that's BEFORE you take into account the kinds of riders that are attached to bills in order to get them passed.
