Obama highlights benefits of health care bill

[NJmaverick]

"Now, it'll take a few years to fully implement these reforms in a responsible way," the president said. "But what every American should know is that once I sign health insurance reform into law, there are dozens of protections and benefits that will take effect this year."
Among them, Obama said:
_People with pre-existing illnesses or conditions will be able to buy affordable health insurance.
_Children with such conditions will no longer be denied coverage.
_Small-business owners who can't afford to cover their employees will get tax credits to help them do so.
_Insurance companies will be required to offer free preventive care to their customers and will be prohibited from dropping coverage when someone becomes ill.
"In short, once I sign health insurance reform into law, doctors and patients will have more control over their health care decisions and insurance company bureaucrats will have less," Obama said. "All told, these changes represent the most sweeping reforms and toughest restrictions on insurance companies that this country has ever known."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100109/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_health_care;_ylt=ApZYhR6A04Pms2MbD5NaPXes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFmZGFmaWhwBHBvcwMxMDIEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9idXNpbmVzcwRzbGsDb2JhbWFoaWdobGln

[stray cat]

1. Many people choose not to pay for health insurance and they want to maintain that choice

Many want health insurance or health care if it is free or someone else will pay for it but they resent having to use their own money for it no matter what is in the bill that is good and will help others.

A mandate is going to lose the dems vote - while subsidies as long as some one else pays has more support

[secondwind]

2. healthcare can not be free now.....I'm hopeful that perhaps in the distant future,

there will have been enough amendments/revisions to this HCR bill, to make healthcare free for many people.

[frazzled]

5. It's not free anywhere in the world

Single-payer systems are not free. Medicare is not free. They must be paid for through taxes. It's like paying your premium to the government. There is no such thing as free health care.

[NJmaverick]

3. Those same people that choose not to buy insurance

have no problem demanding care when they are sick or hurt but can't pay for it. To choose not to buy health insurance is a socially irresponsible act that hurts our nation (by creating cost burdens).

[frazzled]

4. Some people don't want to pay taxes or wear seat belts ...

or buy car insurance or wait at stop lights if there's nobody around or obey the speed limits or ....

The government imposes laws and regulations for the common good. We can't drive down the unsustainable costs of health care in this country if people decide they don't want to be insured.

If you're espousing such libertarian ideas, you're not really a progressive. I would prefer the mandate were on the government (to collect taxes to fund a single-payer system), but short of that, I realize the need for mandates on individuals.