Well, the GOP managed to slip a repeal of the ACA's individual mandate into their new tax law. But will it topple the ACA apple cart?
I doubt it.
Why?
Because the individual mandate, designed to "require" young, healthy Americans to buy health insurance never worked. The young, healthy millennials I spoke to just did the math - 5% of their income or a minimum of $695, whichever is lower - and compared that to hundreds of dollars a month to buy insurance they may not use? They just paid the penalty. Or they didn't.
Fact is, the IRS had no real way to enforce the individual mandate. The IRS can’t bill people that didn’t buy health insurance. It can’t garnish their wages, threaten tax evasion charges or report them to the credit bureaus. All it can do is deduct the fine from their tax return. If they have the right amount withdrawn, they won't get a tax refund to deduct the penalty from.
The fear that only those who need health insurance will buy health insurance was already happening.
But let's talk about the real problem here.
An opaque, inefficient health care system with skyrocketing, unsustainable costs.
Health insurance, while not lily-white in their dealings, has nothing to do with this real problem and fretting over young, healthy people buying health insurance will not fix the real problem.
We need a transparent, accountable, affordable health care system.
As I've said before, if health insurance and the government, who are both practicing medicine without a license, stepped aside, and it was just consumers and providers, health care would get fixed in a jiffy!
Gee. How about health insurance companies and the government pitching in with a clear focus on empowering consumers, then staying out of the way!
We've still got a long way to go. I know you're weary - and so am I. But we've got to keep stating that we want consumer-driven health care - now.
I doubt it.
Why?
Because the individual mandate, designed to "require" young, healthy Americans to buy health insurance never worked. The young, healthy millennials I spoke to just did the math - 5% of their income or a minimum of $695, whichever is lower - and compared that to hundreds of dollars a month to buy insurance they may not use? They just paid the penalty. Or they didn't.
Fact is, the IRS had no real way to enforce the individual mandate. The IRS can’t bill people that didn’t buy health insurance. It can’t garnish their wages, threaten tax evasion charges or report them to the credit bureaus. All it can do is deduct the fine from their tax return. If they have the right amount withdrawn, they won't get a tax refund to deduct the penalty from.
The fear that only those who need health insurance will buy health insurance was already happening.
But let's talk about the real problem here.
An opaque, inefficient health care system with skyrocketing, unsustainable costs.
Health insurance, while not lily-white in their dealings, has nothing to do with this real problem and fretting over young, healthy people buying health insurance will not fix the real problem.
We need a transparent, accountable, affordable health care system.
As I've said before, if health insurance and the government, who are both practicing medicine without a license, stepped aside, and it was just consumers and providers, health care would get fixed in a jiffy!
Gee. How about health insurance companies and the government pitching in with a clear focus on empowering consumers, then staying out of the way!
We've still got a long way to go. I know you're weary - and so am I. But we've got to keep stating that we want consumer-driven health care - now.
RSS Feed
