Here's my take.
I used to work in the insurance industry. I sold health insurance amongst other things. Way more often than not, I ran into people who didn't WANT to afford health insurance, rather than those who *couldn't* afford it.
Here's some food for thought.....HALF.....yes HALF....of the the 2.2 trillion spent on healthcare every year in the U.S. is directly caused by 4 things:
Poor diet.
No exercise.
Smoking.
Alcohol intake.
4 *completely* controllable lifestyle changes.
But we don't want to change our lifestyle or pay our own premiums. We'd rather have someone making 500K a year subsidize our healthcare....because they can "afford" it.
You ask 1 million people what their main concern with Health Care is and they'll tell you the price...
Unfortunately, this administration's quest to "reform" healthcare has *NOTHING* to do with reducing costs....but everything to do with extending coverage to everyone.
Isn't that counter intuitive? No, it's Socialism at its best...farming votes at its best.
Extend healthcare to everyone....demand goes up with supply the same...you get a shift...resulting in DING DING DING....higher prices for everyone!
Extend "FREE" healthcare to some....and of course...they'll overuse it. DING DING DING, demand shoots up, higher prices for everyone!
Lastly, taking away an insurance company's ability to properly price risk... who do they charge?......DING DING DING- higher premiums for everyone else.
You saw what happened with the credit card reform....just you wait till this travesty is enacted.
Get rid of frivolous law suits, get rid of government red tape that dictates where insurance companies can operate, and reward folks who live healthy lifestyles....
That's the answer.
God help us all.