September 23, 2013 by David K. Sutton
Obamacare Derangement: Republicans Look To Fulfill Their Own Prophecy
It seems many Republican policy positions are based on a short-term outlook. They appear unable to see past tomorrow in their decision-making. Cut food stamps now, deal with higher fiscal costs later. Sequestration now, reduced economic growth later. And so on. But their forward-looking blind-spot has not hindered their willingness to dabble in Obamacare prophecies.
Republicans do not believe in the idea of universal coverage because that means some are getting services they didn’t pay for. Of course this is how insurance works. If your house burns down 6 months after you buy it, other customers with the same insurance are essentially subsidizing the costs of your replacement home.
The $200K lesson I learned from getting shot – Salon.com — Young people are typically healthy. On average, they incur very low medical costs each year. In any social insurance system, most of them will end up paying in more than they get out during their early years, because most people make it through youth without contracting a major illness or befalling terrible accidents. Yes, they get healthcare coverage, and the peace of mind that comes with it. They also enter a social contract that promises to provide them affordable coverage when they’re older and no longer healthy, as a form of back payment for cross-subsidizing today’s aged and ill. But in the near term, and in the narrowest, most pecuniary sense, a system like Obamacare won’t necessarily seem like a great deal.
When it comes to health care insurance, age is an important factor. The young are less likely to need medical care. That means the young subsidize some of the cost to insure the old. But guess what? If we are lucky enough, we all become old one day, and our insurance is then partly subsided by the future young. I want to believe Republicans aren’t so stupid as to not understand how insurance works, but if that’s true, that means their already deplorable efforts to get young people to opt-out of Obamacare is a flagrant disregard for the well-being of individual citizens and the country whole. And it supports the adage that Republicans say government is the problem, then they get into office and prove it. In this case, Republicans say Obamacare is bad for the country, and they will do whatever is within their power to make sure that prophecy comes true.
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