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The more I hear neocon ideologues like Steve Moore spew thier stale rhetoric about the alleged glories of the free market, the more I begin to think that Lenin was right.

Capitalism only benefits the rich and the ruthless - everybody else is exploited and abused.

The invisible hand of the free market is giving the Rest of us the finger.

Time to put apologists for this rotten system up against the wall once and for all!

What kind of an un-American jerk claims that capitalism is more important than democracy?

As a Conservative Republican even I'm embarassed by this Steve guy.

Hey Steve - if you hate America so much, why don't you move to Singapore? I'll bet you'll love your firsr caning!

Young people are basically stupid and need to be forced to do the right thing anyway.

Maybe it's a good thing to force them to spend their money on investing in our nation's health instead of wasting it on cocaine, ugly clothing and crappy Lady Gaga records.

This issue is so interesting that I'm writing a paper on it. It states, Public Option and it's effects on younger america. As an independent I happen to agree with both sides "That's why I'm an independent lol". But dissagree with the extremes on either side.

On one hand you have non insured people driving up costs in an emergency for others who actually pay. "Not Good"

On the other hand you have a Liberal President trying to force everyone who are not sick to purchase insurance to pay for those who are. Can anyone say socalism? "Not Good"

So what do you do? I propose that we not act like Microsoft and just add new features with their next software release, but actually fix the core problems that are making insurance for people, "The real reason people don't have insurance". What are those problems? Lets see, malpractice lawsuits, tests being done per the direction of insurance companies and not the actual needs of the patients, to name a few. If you reduce waste and greed you will drive down the cost of insurance and through the nature course of things, more and more people will be able to afford insurance.

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." Ben Franklin.

Obama and the Dems have betrayed the desires of the left - STOP - while still trying to wreck (with rationing, fees, fines, criminal penalties, invasions of privacy, etc.) the current health care system that benefits 85% of the people everyday - STOP - and still trying to further wreck the US economy with unnecessary expenses and government control that WE can't afford - STOP - Obama also screws the left by proposing that almost all the Dem "reforms" begin in 2013 in a vain attempt to try and get reelected - STOP - LOL - STOP - fascist nanny state BL - Moderator request I be brief - STOP - so I am - STOP.

since moving to new york, i have depended on Artist Access which is a program by a network of hospitals that offers healthcare to artists in the area on a sliding scale. the best thing about this is that it allows us to exchange their art for healthcare. Artist Access does not have monthly fees, i "pay" my fees only when i go see the doctor. i don't think my paycheck could handle the monthly cost of mandatory insurance. i do go to the doctor often, i take prescription medicine and i have gone to their emergency room before. because of this i am active with the program, teaching dance classes when i can so i may have credits to pay for the services. its great that new york has alternative healthcare programs like this, and i wish this could go on a national level. this is more of what i thought health care reform would be.

The public option, as the President describes it, is basically a nonprofit self-sustaining insurance company set up by the government. Because it wouldn't be paying fat executive salaries, it would cost somewhat less. However irksome those 7-figure incomes may be, they are only a small part of the out-of-control healthcare costs in America.

The public option would cost the consumer less, but it would still probably cost at least a couple of hundred dollars a month. I've tried to find some stats on just how much it would cost but didn't have much luck. Perhaps the BL show could do a follow-up on just what kind of monthly payments public option customers could expect.

Snoop - I agree with you re single payer. It is the best system. But I'm one of those tiresome people who says, it's just not going to happen in our current representative democracy (emphasis on the representative). At least, not immediately, not this time around.

I'm for the incremental reform, however, even if it excludes a public option. I prefer a public option. But the problems are so systemic - beyond just insurance - you've got to start somewhere.

The plan is still worthwhile because it increases more oversight of the insurance industry. So there will be quality control. It's headed in the right direction. And I think that the bill that comes out of Finance will not be the final bill - there's the full vote and the conference committee. A lot can happen in the process.

But it's pie-in-the-sky to think we'll get single payer out of this. The Democrats' majority is based on running centrist candidates in former Republican districts. You're just not going to get a European-style health system out of this Congress, no matter how preferable such a system is.

Forced to pay $250 a month???!!! Is this "affordable"????

$3000 a year!!!

This is healthcare reform??? This is health insurance company subsidy!

This American Life did a great show last week about how doctors, insurance companies, and patients ALL help to drive up health care costs. It's worth a listen:

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=391

Our health insurance system is so dysfunctional it's created a sizable group of people (not all young -- all ages) who prefer to play Russian roulette because it's financially onerous for an individual to get any kind of basic policy. But anyone, no matter how carefully they eat and exercise, can develop an inherited illness, suffer an accidental injury, or experience some other unexpected health crisis. To assume that the system will come through (because an ER can't turn you away) simply adds to the total cost of health care for everyone. We have lost all sense responsibility to the society. It's indvidualism run amok but abetted by our crazy health care system.

Right on, Robyn from NYC!

You're not going to potentially kill anyone by getting sick (except maybe yourself) as you would if you hit someone with your automobile - really dumb comparison.

Forget the "affordable" health insurance out of it - give us affordable healthcare!!!

Health insurance companies are corrupt and immoral!

45,000 died last year because they had no health insurance, in the richest nation on earth

we're number 1?

Robyn:

Throughout America (and I mean outside the five boroughs), most people HAVE to drive as there is no subway or bus service to get around. You CAN choose not to drive, which is also a choice not to work or go to school or live a normal life.

I do agree with you in that all of us need affordable healrth care.

WE have a national health care system. It's called the "Emergency Room".

any "public option" only has to be less costly than the ER, which is incredibly easy since using the ER as clinic is 1000 times more costly.

The solution is not insurance. The problem is insurance. A single payer system phased in very slowly over 15 years is the answer.

dr dave / lower east side

I'm so frustrated that the Obama administration took single payer off the table before the debate even began. I agree that being forced to buy crappy insurance is NOT health care reform. But health care should be a right and it's an investment in our future, like education.

I'm so frustrated that the Obama administration took single payer off the table before the debate even began. I agree that being forced to buy crappy insurance is NOT health care reform. But health care should be a right and it's an investment in our future, like education.

I didn't have health insurance until I was close to 30 because I was working usually 2 or 3 part-time jobs at a time to support myself as a theatre artist. There was barely enough money for rent. I couldn't have paid more for health insurance. Having the ability to stay on my parents' insurance til 26 would have been a big help.

I don't believe there has ever been shown to a cost or medical benefit for an otherwise healthy person under 40 to have a annual physical.

James,

What bothers me (and maybe the other callers) is not the concept of insurance... it is that we will be forced to buy insurance which has no quality control and is so clearly a way for insurance companies to make a load of money.

If the purchase requirement was not viewed by the insurance companies as a cash bonanza, they would not support it.

A single payer system where everyone paid taxes to support the system would not bother me, and I think it would work better. I don't know why we need to subsidize capitalism in the form of the purchase requirement.

if i'm going to be forced to pay for health insurance then i hope that means it will cost me $25 a month.

When I was in my early 20's, I didn't have health insurance for several years thinking it wasn't worth the monthly premium I would have had to pay. After all, I was young and healthy. Fortunately, I got a full time job with health insurance at 24. On my 25th birthday, my appendix ruptured. I developed peritonitis (an often fatal condition). I was in the hospital for weeks. The hospital bill was over $35,000 and that was 1992! Because I had insurance, I owed only $500.00 (still a lot of money for me at the time). If I didn't have insurance, I would still be paying that hospital bill 17 years later.
Everyone needs to have insurance!

What about Medicaid as an existing option for low-income young people? That young ski bum making $12k a year surely would have qualified for free health care from Medicaid and wouldn't have to "cramp his budget" under the existing system dude!

since kids are saddled with debt from their student loans people should be allowed to stay on their parents health insurance until they are able to pay off their student loans. that might provide for motivations in several sectors.

Health insurance costs 30,000 a year for a family in NY. I can't afford it now, and I can't afford it when I'm forced to pay it.

I resent the fact that the government might FORCE people to buy private insurance. It is wrong for the government to force individuals to buy something from a private industry.

Comparing health insurance to auto insurance is the wrong comparison. People choose to drive; they are not forced to. People do not choose to get sick or injured.

I would be more than happy to have a tax taken out of my paycheck to have government run healthcare.

This debate needs to stop being about health insurance and should be about healthcare. Nobody needs health insurance. Insurance is just an expensive, ineffective middleman. What all Americans need is affordable healthcare.

Wait. Do these callers get the basic idea of insurance? It's not just about what matters to you. $250 a month is actually extremely affordable for health care - it's what you'd pay in taxes for a public plan (unless you want to just borrow the money from China). And getting everybody in the pool will lower everybody's costs, bc that means I stop having to pay for you when you go in the ER and then can't pay.

You ask what features of health care young people need and/or should be offered:

I say NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING!

Get them early, teach them how to maintain ideal weight. They will be able to exercise, stay healthy, raise healthy families.

Brian, the comparison to required car insurance caught my attention.

It's interesting how we are mandated to insure our cars but not ourselves!

A mandate without a public option to keep things competitive is a terrible idea.
Even if there were subsidies large enough to cover the entire cost of the plan, this does not do anything to control what insurance companies could charge, and thereby just creates another win for the insurance companies. Otherwise, we will all just pay for it anyway through our taxes over our lifetimes. And the rich get richer.
Love, a 25-year-old

Also, the people who are draining the system (those take advantage of medical services and don't pay), aren't likely to pay a fine either. So, you are just penalizing healthy, responsible people who don't have the cash.

I just wouldn't pay the fine. I thought part of the purpose of reforming health care was to help the uninsured (whatever age), not penalize them. Can we bring universal health care back into the fold?

I believe young people should be taxed based on their income if they opt to not buy health insurance. Most colleges offer affordable insurance if the student is going to school full time. I also belief young people would opt to not work full time if they could still have affordable health care. I currently work as a freelancer and find I have a healthier life style since I do not work full time and can afford my private 200 dollar a month health insurance. That would also allow more people to work even if it is less hours a week.

I agree with snoop. It's one thing to say that everyone must have health insurance, it's another to force them to get crappy insurance. What's the guarantee that the health insurance people are forced to buy will actually cover them? For those of us who are covered, health insurance overall is lousy.

I wanted to add a comparison of what the US pays for healthcare with other similarly developed countries. Everyone can & should have healthcare in the US - it's an issue of morality!
http://thefastertimes.com/globalpandemics/2009/09/24/us-healthcare-paying-more-for-less/

I'm young, healthy, life long vegetarian, never been to a doctor in 14 years for anything.. and you think I have extra cash to pay for heart surgery for your fat uncle?
I'll pay the fine thanks.

No one young or old should be forced by law to purchase something from a private company. It is immoral and probably constitutional and a huge gift to corporations. The government (by such things as foood/farm policy) contributes to poor health of our citizens. It should help people become healthy, not compel them to buy something they can't afford, subsidy or not. The only way this can be even remotely fair is if the gov't provides a low cost alternative.

If uninsured young people or any people are such a problem, that problem should be addressed structurally not by such patchwork fixes.

As a 26 year old young buisness owner, I pay for my own health insurance. Currently I pay $500 dollars a month for insurance. I wish there was a mandatory program that would lower my rates, because nothing can be more expensive that what I am already paying.

Well as a "young invincible" I will probably end up doing what most young people in Massachusetts usually do. Pay the penalties, and if I do become seriously i will sign up with a good health plan that wont be able to turn me away because the bill will force them to take me even though I have a pre-existing condition.

How disgusting. The insurance companies get guaranteed customers, and the customers get no guarantee of decent or affordable insurance.

This is supposed to be health care reform???

I don't believe age is the only factor.

Basically, the mandate requires people who take responsibility for their own health and well-being to pay for people who need sick care intervention. The US Health System is compromised of ineffective symptom-relief practices.

of course young people are irresponsible, look at the example the boomers set for them!