Sound Mind Investing nearly summarizes how health care "reform" will screw the middle class from both ends.
Indeed, there are compelling reasons to be concerned that your taxes and/or personal insurance costs will rise significantly if health care legislation passes in something similar to its currently proposed form. Why? Consider the big picture: insurers will have to accept all applicants, even those with serious or terminal illnesses. Their costs' will skyrocket as a result of having to cover claims by a surge of already-sick new customers.In theory, a significant portion of these new costs would be offset by the insurers gaining new income from the insurance premiums paid by millions of healthy, currently-uninsured new customers. This is the so-called "mandate" which would require everyone to have health insurance. Anyone failing to do this would pay a fine to the U.S. Treasury.
Originally, the fines were set at relatively high levels, but fine levels were subsequently watered down.
Now, with the potential fines dropped so low, few of the healthy uninsured are likely to buy insurance. They'll just pay the much less-expensive fine. If the majority of new customers the insurance companies get are the ones who are already sick, insurers' costs are going to explode with very little offsetting additional income. That's where you — the currently insured, reasonably healthy person or family — come in. You're the key to all these pieces fitting together.
The insurers need more money to pay the claims of new sick customers? Check — they can get it by raising your premiums. Lower-income families can't afford the premiums of their new coverage? Check — they will be subsidized by raising your taxes to pay for them.
Middle class citizens will pay both higher premiums and higher taxes to fund the "reform". For an added poke in the eye, health care quality will also plummet.
The Democrats are eager to sell you on the idea that health care "reform" will help "other people" and won't cost anyone anything. Don't believe it.
