Supreme Court hearing on Affordable Healthcare Act

[Jimmy]

I swear to the flying spaghetti monster that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules the act to be unconstitutional, then it's time to leave this backward-moving country!! What are your thoughts?

[The Magic Pudding]

Eets just not right for a god fearing country to be given out the free healthcare.
Ye and don't you start with that but Jesus did it line.
He only done it for promotional purposes.

[Jimmy]

Eets just not right for a god fearing country to be given out the free healthcare.
Ye and don't you start with that but Jesus did it line.
He only done it for promotional purposes.

I knew it!!!  

[Jimmy]

Here's a good editorial from the NY Times yesterday....
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/opinion/the-supreme-courts-momentous-test.html?_r=1&hp

[Ali]

Maybe if they scrap the whole thing we can start over and finally get single payer like the rest of the civilized world?  Maybe?  Hopeful? 

Yeah, probably not. 

[Will]

The elephant in the room is the conservative court is arguably the most dangerous thing in America today. We need a balanced court in this country at all times otherwise we end up with what's happened for the last ~7 years, where we have Thomas, Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and the supposed moderate/swing-voter, Kennedy, making a god damned mess that will take a generation to clean up if we're lucky. We need one or two lions on each side and then real, honest to goodness moderates in the middle in order to have legitimate balance. At the rate we're going now, Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education are in danger, let alone the individual mandate.

[Jimmy]

Maybe if they scrap the whole thing we can start over and finally get single payer like the rest of the civilized world?  Maybe?  Hopeful? 

Yeah, probably not. 

I did hear that if it does get scrapped, then it would open up the possibility of Medicare for all, which of course, is already constitutional. I'm all for that!!

[Jimmy]

The elephant in the room is the conservative court is arguably the most dangerous thing in America today. We need a balanced court in this country at all times otherwise we end up with what's happened for the last ~7 years, where we have Thomas, Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and the supposed moderate/swing-voter, Kennedy, making a god damned mess that will take a generation to clean up if we're lucky. We need one or two lions on each side and then real, honest to goodness moderates in the middle in order to have legitimate balance. At the rate we're going now, Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education are in danger, let alone the individual mandate.

I agree. What worries me about the conservative members the most is their devious tactics. They are cherry picking, badly. They will use precedent to support their own agenda and ignore it when it doesn't . In the latter case, they will strictly interpret the constitution to the point of irrelevancy, when it is painfully obvious that we live very differently than the founders did....we need to adapt to the times or else suffer the consequence.
AAHH!! It's frustrating  ???

[Firebird]

Maybe if they scrap the whole thing we can start over and finally get single payer like the rest of the civilized world?  Maybe?  Hopeful? 

Yeah, probably not. 

I did hear that if it does get scrapped, then it would open up the possibility of Medicare for all, which of course, is already constitutional. I'm all for that!!

Not a chance. If this comparatively tame attempt at health care reform is defeated, there is no way in..errr...hell that they will ever pass single-payer, at least on a federal level. My biggest hope right now is that Vermont is going to implement single-payer in the state within the next couple of years. Hopefully if it works there (and I have little doubt that it will) then it will spread to other states. Even that isn't enough to tame the major issues we're going to have over the next few years with health care costs, but at least it's a start.

[Whitney]

Is there a link to something that clearly explains what the affordable healthcare act will force people to buy (like how much coverage is enough under the act), how much is given from the government to help cover the expense, and  including to what extent it will affect small business?

My boss and I are both a little confused and concerned about if the law will force the company to have to buy insurance for everyone as that is a large burden on a small, yet growing, company with little room for large overhead costs. 

[Jimmy]

Is there a link to something that clearly explains what the affordable healthcare act will force people to buy (like how much coverage is enough under the act), how much is given from the government to help cover the expense, and  including to what extent it will affect small business?

My boss and I are both a little confused and concerned about if the law will force the company to have to buy insurance for everyone as that is a large burden on a small, yet growing, company with little room for large overhead costs. 

I don't but I guess some small businesses are planning on not providing coverage and opt to pay the yearly penalty, which may be a cheaper option.

[markmcdaniel]

The central primes that opponents of the health care reform law, that requiring people to by health insurance is unconstitutional, is flawed. At least on the local level governments all ready force us to buy insurance. If you own a car you must provide proof of insurance before you can register it. If you own a house or apartment building you must have insurance and , of course if you live in Massachusetts you are required to buy health insurance. The argument that the Federal Government cannot force a person to buy a product that they may not need is fallacious. Everyone will need to use health care at multiple points in their lives. The argument that this is a problem that is best solved at the local level is also false. This is a National problem and it is best solved at the National level.