Mandatory health insurance on the way?

[Steve]

MSNBC - Did you see Massachusetts lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill Tuesday that would make Massachusetts the first state to require that all its citizens have some form of health insurance. If all goes as planned, poor people will be offered free or heavily subsidized coverage; those who can afford insurance but refuse to get it will face increasing tax penalties until they obtain coverage; and those already insured will see a modest drop in their premiums. The measure does not call for new taxes but would require businesses that do not offer insurance to pay a $295 annual fee per employee. Individuals deemed able but unwilling to purchase health care could face fines of more than $1,000 a year by the state if they don’t get insurance. Is this going to be good or bad?

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This is a very bad idea. My wife works in the admitting in the ER at the loca hospital and it is bad enough that so many state assisted people come in on a regular bases for no reason what so ever. It has gotten so bad, that they are telling patients that are state assisted to go over to the "Urgent Care", a kind of a mix between a doctors office and emergency room. There are emergency rooms that are shutting down around the state because they have no money due to the people that abuse it. That is one of the reasons that my wife is looking for work in a bigger city. These small local hospitals can not keep up. In the last 2 months, my wife has gone from working 60hrs a week, to 40, to 30, and now she will be down to 24 hrs within the next two weeks.

I also want to make the point that I do not have health insurance, we can not afford it right now.

Something else needs to happen, before the state steps in and starts footing the bill. Perhaps have a major health savings plan. Such as $100 a month from their paychecks or something that gets tucked away. They can not touch that unless for health reasons. Basically have a health card that can only be used at hospitals or doctors offices and it deducts directly from that account

[Steve]

What is the cost of health insurance now in your state?

[kc2006]

My sister is a RN at the OSU ER, she said the same thing Troy said. She said about 80% of the people that come in have no reason to be there and the majority of people that come in are poor and end up getting all the services for free.

Seems like another way the government can delete out the middle class, it's almost like they want everyone to either be poor or rich and the middle man gets the short end of the stick everytime.

[Steve]

Why is it that anywhere else you purchase something you can see a price list? Cars, food, homes. But when it comes to the medical industry, why are there no price lists so you can shop around and force medical providers to be competitive on price?