Our Health Policy Matters

Should the Affordable Care Act be repealed so that over a million people making more than $123,000 per year can avoid paying $3,000 in taxes beginning in 2016?  And should they be allowed to pass on the cost of their health care to everyone else? This week, a local newspaper quoted a lifelong Florida Democrat as saying she might vote for Mitt Romney because she believed ACA offered “a costly giveaway to freeloaders.” The irony is that the law actually does just the opposite – and Mitt Romney knows this better than most.  It requires nearly all health care “freeloaders” either to get insurance or pay a tax penalty. Eighty percent of those affected will get insurance.  But the Congressional Budget Office reported last week that it expects 6 million people to owe the tax penalty beginning in 2014.  The $8 billion the penalty will eventually raise will help defray the cost of uncompensated care. Six million people make up less than 2% of our total p...

Should the Affordable Care Act be repealed so that over a million people making more than $123,000 per year can avoid paying $3,000 in taxes beginning in 2016?  And should they be allowed to pass on the cost of their health care to everyone else? This week, a local newspaper quoted a lifelong Florida Democrat as saying she might vote for Mitt Romney because she believed ACA offered “a costly giveaway to freeloaders.” The irony is that the law actually does just the opposite – and Mitt Romney knows this better than most.  It requires nearly all health care “freeloaders” either to get insurance or pay a tax penalty. Eighty percent of those affected will get insurance.  But the Congressional Budget Office reported last week that it expects 6 million people to owe the tax penalty beginning in 2014.  The $8 billion the penalty will eventually raise will help defray the cost of uncompensated care. Six million people make up less than 2% of our total p...

What did the politician say after bumping his head while walking along a sidewalk as he waved to his constituents?     “I never look at the poles.” Whether political leaders admit to looking at the polls or not, when you look beyond the headlines some current polls are saying a lot about how people feel about health and mental health policy issues.   In the spirit of post-State of the Union bipartisanship, let’s hope that President Obama and Congressional leaders use three recent polls to listen to us about health reform, and to educate us about mental illness. First, this is what the President and members of Congress will hear if they listen to what people are telling pollsters about the health reform law. We like a number of the elements of health reform, and don’t want them repealed. We’re not afraid that health reform will affect our existing health coverage. We don’t think the current law went too far. The headlines from three January polls suggest that ...

What did the politician say after bumping his head while walking along a sidewalk as he waved to his constituents?     “I never look at the poles.” Whether political leaders admit to looking at the polls or not, when you look beyond the headlines some current polls are saying a lot about how people feel about health and mental health policy issues.   In the spirit of post-State of the Union bipartisanship, let’s hope that President Obama and Congressional leaders use three recent polls to listen to us about health reform, and to educate us about mental illness. First, this is what the President and members of Congress will hear if they listen to what people are telling pollsters about the health reform law. We like a number of the elements of health reform, and don’t want them repealed. We’re not afraid that health reform will affect our existing health coverage. We don’t think the current law went too far. The headlines from three January polls suggest that ...