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Healthcare denial - "I don't want to pay for others' health insurance under Obamacare!" Newsflash - You already are...

One anti-Obamacare talking point which has perplexed me somewhat is when people tell me, "I don't want to pay for other people's healthcare! I pay for my own! They should pay for theirs!"

I'm thinking these individuals have seen one too many bumper stickers and listened to Rush Limbaugh for one minute too many (one minute by itself may be too many). While I'm not fully on-board with Obamacare, I do think it's likely a step in the right direction. It's far too early to tell what the net effect of it will be on this country, but I think in the end, it will have a positive one overall. The most controversial aspect of the bill is the mandate, which requires every person to acquire health insurance by the due date or else pay a fine. While it's probably quite discomforting for many to feel, accurately or not, that a right of theirs has been stripped from them by the federal government through this mandate, it is quite essential for the reform to be successful.

The hope is that a very solid majority will buy into this new system, which will greatly reduce the number of those whom are uninsured, prompt more people to pay for their own insurance, and through this, see premiums decrease. If this all works out according to plan, wouldn't it become progressively more likely for people to pay for their own insurance than to have to pay for others as well as their own?

"I don't want to pay for others' health insurance through Obamacare!" Newsflash - you already are. In a study conducted by Families USA, it was found that $42.7 billion (37%) of healthcare costs for the uninsured went unpaid in 2008. This resulted in the average U.S. family having to pay an extra $1,017 in healthcare premiums that year.

Ron Pollack, the group's executive director had this to say about the study's findings:

"I don't think anybody has any idea about how much they are paying because of the need to cover the health care costs of the uninsured. This is a hidden tax on all insurance premiums, whether is is paid by business for their work or by families when they purchase their own coverage."

Hopefully, in due time, Obamacare, in reducing the number of those whom are uninsured, will help reduce these premium costs as well.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/insurance/2009-05-28-hiddentax_N.htm

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