As Heinlein once said, I laugh because otherwise I’d cry (and scream, and pound my head against the wall):
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the White House would be open to co-ops instead of a government-run public option, a sign Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory on the must-win showdown.(TL)
Ok, so let’s say they ditch it and include an individual mandate, meaning you are forced to buy insurance from private insurers or co-ops (which won’t be able to contain costs). What is that?
It is a regressive tax. Given the likely pathetic subsidies it will hit the working and middle classes hardest as it will be a higher proportion of their income than for the rich. Since health care costs will not be properly contained, they will rise faster than pay will (they have for decades now). So every year you will be forced to spend more of your money than the year before and will have less money left over.
A regressive tax which rises faster than pay rises.
This is forced increased spending on domestic financial services, which is what insurance is. I guess that’s Obama’s economic plan as well as his health care plan. And bonus, since there’ll be no denials and no recessions, you won’t be able to get out of it in any fashion, except death.
Death and taxes, the first gets you out of the second. And a health care mandate without effective cost controls is an ever growing tax till you die.