When the bill arrives for the tens of millions of boomers on social security, and the state has to figure our where to come up with the additional funding for Medicaid, and individuals have to figure out how to pay for that mandatory health coverage or the tax should they decline, they I expect to see another "they didn't see it coming" article. Perhaps the title of that one will be "How could this happen?"

Mandatory health care is not an issue unless there aren't limits on insurance costs, medical costs, and payments. A government which negotiates fees without consumers at the table is negotiating the way former Mayor Daley did in Chicago, and he is alluded to have given away the farm.

Time will tell how this turns out and who really pays for what, and also, what else we'll have to give up to achieve this.

It's ironic, but this week China launched three astronauts into space, while this supposedly great nation has to pay the Russians to get us up there. Are we going broke? Have we lost it? The politicians, who we are told be can believe, tell us "everything is fine."

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, we officially have the largest tax increase in the history of this country. Once again the Democrats have proven themselves to be the tax and spend party. We need to vote them out before they do even more damage.

Actually, this should save the country a considerable sum, and it's that's the only reason Obama pushed it through. We already HAVE universal health coverage in this country- we just do it the most inefficient way- through the ER. And do you know the collection rate for ER bills? 33%! Yes, 33%. ...... AND do you know where the other 67% comes from presently?..........That's right, those of us who DO maintain health coverage and pay our bills. And as far as the econmy goes, the insurance companies are salivating at the opportubity for all this new business. Don't believe what the right-wing extremists are selling you - even Romney doesn't believe that crap ( actions speak louder than words). He just had to kiss their butts to get nominated.

666, ( or do you prefer Beelzebub?), You mean the life George Bush left us circa January 2009?

As a health care professional, business owner who has been providing his employees with health coverage for over 20 years, health care consumer, and taxpayer, this bill is a definite improvement over what we now have. Is it all we need? No. It's merely a start. The entire insurance industry needs a major overhaul. Rates increase at amazing speed annually. When the guy selling insurance to people is making way more than the guy actually saving people's lives, there is something wrong. The corporatization of hospitals has brought us the $20 Advil in order to make profit. This bill is a meager first step in working some of the inefficiencies out of the system.

Any type of Universal Healthcare destroys freedom of choice, timely access, quality of care and innovation. It is only concerned with "coverage for everyone" instead of being concerned with "care for everyone". Today we have freedom of choice, timely access, quality of care and innovation. What we need is portable insurance, coverage for pre-existing conditions, lower costs and care for the impoverished. These things can be done without losing what is good about our healthcare but we were not even given a chance to implement these things....insurance companies competing across state lines, medical practice tort reform, fewer regulations, medical savings accounts and catastrophic medical insurance policies. Putting more responsibility on the individual instead of more responsibility on the government reduces costs, protects our freedoms and our quality of care. One direction empowers the individual while the other direction empowers the government... and yes, Sarah Palin was right...there will be death panels who will be by-passing Congress by the powers given to them in the Affordable Healthcare Act and this will not only effect seniors, this could also effect babies and children who are not considered to be productive enough for the collective. This is not a scare tactic...this is what will happen when we realize there is not enough money to pay for all the promises in the AHA. Why are we rushing into this abyss without even making an attempt to save ourselves?

Suzanne, this is not an abyss. I think you totally misinterpret what this actually does and does not do- and it really doesn't do that much. As I said, it is a meager first step.As far as putting the responsibility on the individual, this actually forces the individual to be responsible for themselves if they have the means, and helps them get coverage if they don't. I wholeheartedly agree with much of what you said- we need "portable insurance, coverage for pre-existing conditions, lower costs and care for the impoverished...insurance companies competing across state lines, medical practice tort reform,...medical savings accounts and catastrophic medical insurance policies." But almost everything in this law is something most people want. The only hang-up is the individual mandate. And this really won't have that great an effect. It should actually help lower costs across the board, by directly individuals to more effiient coverage modalities, rather than walking into the ER where 1/3 of us foot the bill for the other 2/3. This is an important start. Now we need to go farther, in many of the ways you have enumerated.

dan is right. This is a partial solution to our health care system, and puts into place a nice system that can eventually be used to control costs. In fact, its doing so already - note that Medicare has had its slowest cost growth ever in the last couple years. And controlling costs can be done at the same time as increasing quality and access, because we have so much waste in the system now.

The people railing against the bill seem to be either uninformed or afraid that they will lose out on their own socialized medicine system. This is one of those things that actually may turn out to be a win-win for everyone.

And as far as a tax....its only a tax to those who are free-riders on the current system. Not sure why the Conservatives want to protect those people...

The most disturbing thing about the Supreme Court decision was the workaround that the liberal Justices used to deem this constitutional. A precedent has now been set that the Federal Government can assess a tax if an individual chooses not to purchase a product or service.

But Mel, the individuals that "choose" not to purchase the product or service get it for free anyway any time they want or need it- and at some point, EVERYONE will need health care. So if they get it and don't pay for it, wouldn't we call that "theft"?

Dan, you do realize, if you look beyond the healthcare bill, the consequences of this court ruling, right?

Mel - So you're just going to ignore John "Bush Appointee" Roberts' role in this? Republicans: Constitutionalists until something they don't like is found constitutional. And if you want to get up in arms about precedents, let's talk about lobbyists and corporate personhood, unchecked military spending, bank bailouts...

Cheaper medical insurance? Yeah right, the tollway was going to be free too after X number of years and that has failed to happen too.

Wow, folks wake up! You are missing the point here. This bill was passed loaded with earmarks and shoved down our throats remember? This is not a mandate for free health care and/or for those to pay their fair share. It is another trick that the Con-Fraud-Man-in-Chief can institute with a monstrous new bureaucracy manipulating and increasing taxes on the middle class. This will cripple our economy and damage its Republic. Where will the money come from? The federal gov't is broke and so are some of the States. Are we now proceeding to be called "The United Socialist States of America'? And was it not Thomas Jefferson who was concerned with judicial tyranny? Was it not in full force on the Supreme's decision to force the People to buy insurance? If they can force us to do that what else will be next? And do you trust politicians enough to have them impede the patient doctor relationship priviledges you have now? And do you trust the gov't with your private health information? We cannot even trust them to tell us the truth or get the trillion dollar deficit down and you are going to trust them with your life? This is just another way they can get money out of the consumer. So they have stuck their nose in the auto industry, banking and now they are coming for healthcare. You are naive if you think otherwise. Politicians don't care about the People they care about getting the votes to help themselves. If this mandate is so great why are they going to have it for themselves?

One of the problem is that it does not apply to everyone. "Everyone" must have insurance or pay the tax "Everyone except congress, illegals, Muslims (religious freedom), very poor who will be on Medicaid, the "working poor" will either go on Medicaid (which others pay for) or will be subsidized by the tax payer...so Dan is right..this really doesnt change much. The middle and middle upper classes will still pay while others get a free pass.

Sorry,Ran out of room..the last sentence should read like this: If this mandate is so great then why aren't they going to have it for themselves?(the politicians)....what are we now their peasants now?

Thanks for adding your comments here, everyone... I concur with Dan, by the way. I also appreciate all of you who actually sign a name to your opinions instead of an alias.

I don't understand why people who promote personal responsibility would object to a plan which forces people to pay their own way. I would rather people be penalized for not buying their own, rather than me paying for them in the ER. I pay with gov. subsidies and higher insurance premiums. You'd think the tea partiers and republicans would applaud this type of program to force responsibility. What's the problem? And which "socialist" program don't people like? Social Security? Public education? Medicare? Unemployment? These are very popular programs (which by the way, were NOT created by President Obama...) Liz

Charlie
Your very talented but your also better than this. Personally I would love to see you focus your material on community specific topics versus the same news channel click bait that draws out all the wanna be political scholars. Just my opinion, I enjoy your contributions.

I'm a republican and not the richy-rich "country club" variety - I can hardly make ends meet like 99% of the middle class. I don't want to pay for anyone elses health care! Especially illegals (er, now "legal") who haven't PAID INTO IT!! Obama has the country in 100% worse shape than ANY other president has managed. Are there more jobs? NO. Are the troops home? NO (in fact, he spread them to Aghanistan!). What has he done? Driven us BROKE. Helped gay folks get married, elimated tax cuts that helped middle class and screwed up health care. Oh hooray for this MESS.

Oh and to those who seem to care that folks use an alias - these days if you don't sing the praises of gays, illegals and Obama, your labeled as some sort of bigot. I call it being Christian and not wanting my country flooded with any Tom, Dick or Jose who can cross our border and get free everything. So yeah, in this social climate I feel safer under the guise of a "handle" --- especially online.

Since this is about politics (not genocide,nuclear war, etc) where does all the vitriol and hate come from? Disagreeing with a person's or president's political opinion is what democracy is about. Discussion is what democracy is about as well as compromise. Nobody gets everything they want, including the president...democrat or republican. When did it become about so much hate? (Even the "Christian" element sounds pretty toxic) Just wondering.

Amen A. Reichert! It seems we have lost our ability to disagree without vitriol and it starts with each one of us. From the author of the post (Anti-Health care advocates?) Does being against the bill mean one is anti-health care or just anti-single payer? Take an issue and there is numerous examples (anti-choice, anti Gun, anti abortion...you name it) Instead of demonizing real solutions can be achieved when people look at the good and bad of each given position and negotiate. Neither party in Congress or even the State house allows this to happen so we end up with one philosophy deals that don't fit the whole.

This is a huge over reach of government - a servant to the people. The servant is never greater than his master, except now in what used to be the land of the free. The people of this country were more free in 1776 than today. This odious monstrosity is not even finished being written yet, but has made us slaves to the government we created. Not a very happy Independence day here. Several of you used the word "forced" and that is key. Our government does not have the right to force anyone to buy shoes that don't fit (policies to rich or poor for their needs) and fine them for refusing to drink the koolaide. Our government does not have more rights than we the people who created it do. But now they have usurped the constitution and will force us to do whatever they decide. Watch. A person cannot delegate a power he does not have. Not one of us has the power to make our neighbor buy insurance. Neither should the government. Repeal and Replace. Return to the Constitution.

It's interesting, and somewhat sad, that many countries are able to provide health care that is more affordable, includes more people in coverage, and has better statistical results that we in the US. Why can't we do better here?

Funny how "cherry picking" produces Spain, Italy, and Greece, doing badly, but neglects Canada, Germany, and others who are OK. The same is true when the people who call President Obama a socialist are people who use Medicare (or intend to someday), unemployment insurance, public schools, public roads, student loans, social security, etc. Both sides do it, and I'm sorry, but Romney is a master at this. "Obamacare " is good for Mass. but not for anyone else?

I would urge all the heartfelt commenters to read Robert's Opinion of the Court, Ginsburg's separately filed Opinion, the Opinion dissenting, and Thomas' separate Opinion. At present everyone seems to be regurgitating someone else's opinions rather than reading and formulating their own.

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

It is a tax. You have to be stupid or psychotically in love with this administration to believe it isn't. Valerie Jarrett amoung other Obama insiders have admitted it is. Lest we forget Obama announcing his GHW Bush moment of "no taxes". Go ahead liberals....keep blaming Bush. Multitudes of you will certainly continue to believe the economy is Bushs fault, and that the office of the president has been vacant for four years. Obama promised to fix the economy and reduce the deficit by half - he's done neither, to the contrary. He was when he campaigned, and continues to be an empty suit. He its worse than Carter.

Fascinating comments. It sure is interesting to read what other people have to say, and kind of get the gist of where everyone else is at. Driving to work, it is amusing seeing the uneducated, gullible hordes with their 2O12, Obamunist bumper sticker(s). It's not about liberal or conservative, or democrat or republican anymore, those times are long gone, it is about freedom or tyranny. It's YOUR choice.

This health care mandate which is what it is, was written by the Administration and the Insurance Industry... Hey he wasn't lying when he promised change, right? After all the Act was 2,700 pages long, and was given to the US House of Representatives, about an hour before they were to vote on it and Nancy Pelosi was the one that said "You have to vote on it to see whats in it."

----- My take ---------
I mean we are already living in communism similar to Soviet Russia during the Cold War. The Nazi's we fought against came here took over this country from within, and did it with a Pen, not a Gun. They are the banks, they own both sides. This is about elimination of choice, it is about taking from Peter to pay Paul, and eventually you run out of Peters. You want real change? You don't wanna be a slave? Pull your kids out of state education, quit watching tv, sports, etc, and start educating yourself, by reading. The best slaves don't know they are slaves, unfortunately America has fallen into slavery. Wake others up.

Abe Lincoln 1838:

"All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasures of the earth in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years."

"At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."

From address before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield: "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions."