Obama's Health Care Tax on the Young

The President was on the TV last night in his latest attempt to make health care for most of us worse than we already have it. One suggestion for doing this involves taxing the country's richest income earners to pay for how much the plan is going to cost.

What has not been discussed is how the President and Democrats in Congress are going to also tax the young in order to give cheap health care to others. Here is how they are going to do it.

For starters, they are going to make having health insurance mandatory. For the Democrat's plan to work, they need to keep those who need health insurance the least to participate in the plan as they are also those who make the fewest claims against their insurance. That means that their insurance premium payments get used for paying for treatments for others. If they all decided not to get insurance because the cost of being insured was too high, then the insurance program would be full of participants that cost more than they pay, requiring the Government to foot the difference (Or deny care).

A quick search of the internet found a couple health insurance plans from around $70 to $100 a month. A company that offers insurance, but deducts the monthly premium from their pay, some young people will opt out and take the risk that any medical problems they have, will cost them less than the $1,200 their company would take out of their paycheck for yearly coverage. But if the Democrat's get their way, they are going to get that money anyway by fining people if they opt out of having health insurance. That part of our salary is no longer your income, it becomes a health care tax, because the Government is requiring you to use it a certain way.

It gets worse, because if these young people are married, they will also need to get health insurance for their spouse as well. That makes it a bit more expensive since young couples are more likely to have a baby and submit substantial claims in the process. And since the rates are not adjusted for a couple's desire to have a baby, those who do not want to start a family might be very temped to opt out as a way of saving money. This will no longer be an option under the Democrat's Health Insurance plan.

Update: 24 July 09

It is nice to see the Wall Street journal confirm my opinion above:

Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) says the pressure not to run ads has been “intense, bordering on extortion.” “Groups were told if they did they’d give up their seat at the table,” says former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. “What they weren’t told is that they’d be at the table as lunch.”

Here are some of the groups on the menu if anything like the existing Senate or House health plans become law:

• Young people. If the government mandates that everyone must have health insurance, healthy young people will have to buy policies that don’t reflect the low risk they have of getting sick. The House and Senate bills do let insurers set premiums based on age, but only up to a 2-to-1 ratio, versus a real-world ratio of 5 to 1. This means lower prices for older (and wealthier) folks, but high prices for the young. “They’ll have sticker shock,” says Rep. Paul Ryan, ranking Republican on the Budget Committee. - WSJ

Everyone cannot pay less. Some people have to pay more. Clearly, the Democrats are pointing the finger at the rich. They are also pointing the finger at the young, only they are doing it when nobody is looking.

A couple other comments Concerning ObamaCare:

If this change to the nation's health care system is so great, then delaying the bill should give time for the population to become better familiar with the plan and increase demand for it's passage. Of course it is not good for most of us, resulting in the rush for passage prior to all the facts getting out to the public.

The Democrats claim that their plan will not cover illegal aliens, but the simple fact is, illegal aliens are already covered for certain items such as child birth as well as child doctor's visits up to a certain age. Not only that, but anyone including illegal aliens can show up at a non-profit hospital and receive care free of charge.

Also concerning illegal aliens, since they are not going to be covered under this plan, I guess employers will not have to offer them health insurance. I also guess that illegal aliens will not be forced to pay for health insurance either or pay a fine for not having it. This will only make employing illegal aliens that much more attractive as the wage differential between legal and illegal employees will be that much greater.

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