And as long as she doesn’t want healthcare, she qualifies as a plaintiff in our mind.”
–National Federation of Independent Business
There’s nothing as important as the freedom to refuse. Even if the refusal isn’t in your best interests. Even if it makes no sense. The lead plaintiff on a case challenging the health insurance mandate of the Affordable Care Act has gone bankrupt. The LA Times reports:
Mary Brown, a 56-year-old Florida woman who owned a small auto repair shop but had no health insurance, became the lead plaintiff challenging President Obama‘s healthcare law because she was passionate about the issue.
Brown “doesn’t have insurance. She doesn’t want to pay for it. And she doesn’t want the government to tell her she has to have it,” said Karen Harned, a lawyer for the National Federation of Independent Business. Brown is a plaintiff in the federation’s case, which the Supreme Court plans to hear later this month.
But court records reveal that Brown and her husband filed for bankruptcy last fall with $4,500 in unpaid medical bills. Those bills could change Brown from a symbol of proud independence into an example of exactly the problem the healthcare law was intended to address.
Brown is on record saying that health insurance is important.
“I always paid my bills, as well as my medical bills,” she reportedly told theTimes. “I never said medical insurance is not a necessity. It should be anyone’s right to what kind of health insurance they have.”
Due to her unpaid medical bills–though they account for less than 10% of her debt–several health care providers are out $4500. And of course, her unpaid debt is the problem the ACA addresses:
“The uninsured shift tens of billions of dollars of costs for the uncompensated care they receive to other market participants annually,” says the administration’s Supreme Court brief. “That cost-shifting drives up insurance premiums, which, in turn, makes insurance unaffordable to even more people.”
It doesn’t look as if health insurance coverage prevents bankruptcies. There are the factors of deductions and whether the person can maintain an income. Just having health insurance won’t save your assets.
I wasn’t impressed by the Obama plan as what passed was so similar to the GHW Bush administration’s plan that was rejected by the Democrats years ago. The reality of the situation is that the health insurance lobby gets what it wants for its monopolies. I expect the lobby to squeeze the citizenry for every nickel they can get via this health plan in favorable amendments and determinations.
“Health is not valued till sickness comes.” –Thomas Fuller
Being quite altogether contrary, Mary should just drink Scotch whiskey (not the brand I’m taking to as flavor of the month=Jameson), drive shotgun, and drive behind the wheel, and hopefully she could get her kicks on Route 66 driving a buck+69.
Jameson is not Scotch whiskey.
I assume simply not liking a law doesn’t cut it. After all in a democratic system sometimes your opinion will lose. I’m not the biggest fan of the individual mandate either, but there is nothing in this law that violates any fundamental rights/freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.
are that the mandate exceeds Congress’ authority to legislate. The briefs in the various consolidated cases are online, so you can read the arguments for yourself.
As for this:
That’s your opinion, I guess, but if five Justices disagree, they win.
Make medical debt non-dischargeable without insurance.
It’s okay if you’re a Republican, I guess.