GOP tensions rise over Cruz proposal

[Hondo69]

Still as true today as it was the day he said it!

 

Although the above seems obvious to you and me on it's face, Obama's cult-like followers couldn't care less about basic facts or reality.  They live in a parallel universe.  Their belief system has nothing in common with ours and is closer to that of the Mayans who would sacrifice human beings to appease the Gods.

[Cyber Liberty]

Why is there this assumption that "the poor" are virtuous because they're poor?  That BS.  I have a sister who's "poor" because, at 55 she's never held down a steady job.  Is she "virtuous?"  Hell no, she cheats and steals her way through life, and has taken so much from my elderly parents they are now poor, too.

There is no correlation between virtue and poverty, it's just a tool to demagogue people trying to hold their own, and it's disgraceful.

[txradioguy]

Why is there this assumption that "the poor" are virtuous because they're poor? 

It's part of the class warfare curriculum.  They are that way because someone else is holding them down.

It goes along with the Left's belief that the money "pool" in this country is fixed and never grows.  So if someone get's "rich" it's because someone stole money from someone else who is now poor because of theft by the rich guy.

[Free Vulcan]

LB, I'm not sure why you say Joe Blow (in your example), is less motivated - he's working sixty hours a week!   The difference between them is that one has an employer who provides health insurance and one who doesn't.   That's the basic unfairness in the system.   Not differences in virtue.  Not differences in industriousness.  Just the stark difference in the health insurance options offered by employment in this nation.    How you fix it is a complex undertaking,  but the unfairness isn't that John ends up having to pay for Joe, but that the system that compels it is truly arbitrary.

It's not that complex. Let the company pay for all insurance premiums pretax, and give tax credits for every dollar they spend on paying your premium. Yes they are double dipping, but if we want people to have insurance, who cares?

[Free Vulcan]

I'm not advocating socialism.  I want a system that works.  An employer-based system doesn't work for everybody.  It produces arbitrary outcomes based on the luck of the draw.

Have the govt allow a minimum catastrophic policy that can be sold anywhere in the US. Allow it to be modular to add extra coverage as the person can afford. Allow individuals and companies to pool with as many as the insurance co wishes across the nation.

[corbe]

Have the govt allow a minimum catastrophic policy that can be sold anywhere in the US. Allow it to be modular to add extra coverage as the person can afford. Allow individuals and companies to pool with as many as the insurance co wishes across the nation.

    Sprinkle in a little 'Tort Reform' for sustainability, (rein in those lawyers) and you got my vote @Free Vulcan

[Smokin Joe]

    Sprinkle in a little 'Tort Reform' for sustainability, (rein in those lawyers) and you got my vote @Free Vulcan

I like the idea of multitier deductible hospital/surgical catastrophic care which will allow even 'poor' folks to choose some level at which the bill gets paid (lifetime caps can be adjusted with the level of protection and deductible.) It's closer to a la carte medical insurance. Choose the modules you think are most likely to apply and can afford as a customer, and the insurance companies could come up with actuarial tables to fit each option. The rest of the bill can be worked out with the medical provider as a payment plan at the very least. That doesn't cover ER visits, so scheduling an appointment or the walk in clinic will have to do for the small stuff (out of pocket) instead of running to the ER for the sniffles because Medicaid covers that.

[Free Vulcan]

    Sprinkle in a little 'Tort Reform' for sustainability, (rein in those lawyers) and you got my vote @Free Vulcan

I like the idea of multitier deductible hospital/surgical catastrophic care which will allow even 'poor' folks to choose some level at which the bill gets paid (lifetime caps can be adjusted with the level of protection and deductible.) It's closer to a la carte medical insurance. Choose the modules you think are most likely to apply and can afford as a customer, and the insurance companies could come up with actuarial tables to fit each option. The rest of the bill can be worked out with the medical provider as a payment plan at the very least. That doesn't cover ER visits, so scheduling an appointment or the walk in clinic will have to do for the small stuff (out of pocket) instead of running to the ER for the sniffles because Medicaid covers that.

Tort reform would help the situation a great deal @corbe and @Smokin Joe I have never understood why they won't do national policies 'a la carte' exactly as you put it. I've even had policies that cover ER and clinic stuff expense reimbursement like AFLAC does now. As long as it's not a pre-existing condition that requires current continuing care, it can have actuarial probability applied.

The govt also needs to cough up and allow all health care expenses to be pre-tax, even tax credits if necessary to allow people and companies to afford it. We could even use pre-tax and tax credits to flatten premium curves for high risk and older insurees.

Problem is the govt doesn't want to give up that tax money, as they are not that serious about solving the health care cost problem.

[Sanguine]

...

Problem is the govt doesn't want to give up that tax money, as they are not that serious about solving the health care cost problem.

And, they're really not serious about providing health care.  Even if they were able to.

[Cyber Liberty]

And, they're really not serious about providing health care.  Even if they were able to.

@Free Vulcan @Sanguine

They are far too much in love with their tax code.  Every line in it is control over somebody's lives.  It would kill them all if somebody ever said, "Hey, let's allow people to make important decisions for themselves."

[Bigun]

@Free Vulcan @Sanguine

They are far too much in love with their tax code.  Every line in it is control over somebody's lives.  It would kill them all if somebody ever said, "Hey, let's allow people to make important decisions for themselves."

You said a mouthful my friend!  It's LONG past time we said ENOUGH of this Marxist tax code. WE need to replace it with what the founders universally endorsed!  Taxes on articles of consumption only!

http://fairtax.org

[Smokin Joe]

You said a mouthful my friend!  It's LONG past time we said ENOUGH of this Marxist tax code. WE need to replace it with what the founders universally endorsed!  Taxes on articles of consumption only!

http://fairtax.org

But that gets back to the problem. Since the level of medical care is not predictable, a prebate for an average amount would leave the actual service taxable, and because you need the care when you need it, someone would get slammed with taxes on medical care in the event they suffered some misfortune or the onset of a serious disease.

I could readily support a consumption tax which exempted medical care, food, primary housing, and energy for heating/cooling it. No prebate needed.

But we've had this talk before, and this thread isn't so much about taxes.