Hot Topic (11/11): Should all Americans be required to carry health insurance?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

Big question mark: Fate of health care in Senate
Landmark health insurance bill passes House late Saturday

WASHINGTON - The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Barack Obama on Sunday as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House has nowhere to go in the Senate.

Speaking from the Rose Garden about 14 hours after the late Saturday vote, Obama urged senators to be like runners on a relay team and "take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people."

The problem is that the Senate won't run with it. The government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate. . .

. . . Both the House and Senate bills gradually would extend coverage to nearly all Americans by providing government subsidies to help pay premiums. The measures would bar insurers' practices such as charging more to those in poor health or denying them coverage altogether.

All Americans would be required to carry health insurance, either through an employer, a government plan or by purchasing it on their own.

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The bill passed by the House of Representatives would require all Americans to carry health insurance.  Are you in favor of this idea?

What do you think about the government's plan for health care?  Do you want the government to pass this health insurance bill?

Do you currently have health insurance? 

[mmtosam06]

its alright but I dont think anyone should be fined if they dont get the insurance im not insured i work part time & go to school 

[smcclure2005]

I am not insured. I still do not think the government should make Americans carry it if they do not want to.

[athenax3]

No one should be "made" to carry insurance if they don't want to- tons of people opt out of insurance programs for their own reasons and should have the option to do so without penalty.

[ajjs1972]

its absolutely awsome that the gov' wants to make it available to all, but to make it mandatory is stupid! and to fine people for electing not to have coverage is even more stupid! just a way for the gov to get back some of the money they have wasted in my eyes!

[kathyshelton]

 i do have health ins. and it would be good for everyone to have but i don't think they should be fined for not having it. people don't have it for many different reasons and i think it's just another poor excuse to control what everyone does and to get some of the money thats been wasted. it should be the peoples choice to have ins., not the goverments.

[bakebiscotti]

I'll hit this from a different angle.  This legislation didn't address health care, it addresed health insurance.  This bill had nothing to do with anyone's healthcare.  I don't believe it should be about insurance.  From what I've read this legislation was a giveaway for insurance companies.

If the insurance companies were removed form the equation it might turn into a health care issue. 

[iluvmommyhood58]

Well, that's an interesting point. And on that note, I don't think this was ever about health care in the first place. 

And, no, I don't think the federal government is within its right to require such a thing. The government has no unalienable right, btw, just the people. 

Quoting bakebiscotti:

I'll hit this from a different angle.  This legislation didn't address health care, it addresed health insurance.  This bill had nothing to do with anyone's healthcare.  I don't believe it should be about insurance.  From what I've read this legislation was a giveaway for insurance companies.

If the insurance companies were removed form the equation it might turn into a health care issue. 

[rozepyle]

i dont believe in paying for health care at all let alone being forced to carry insurance. if they want to force, then pay for it.

[PurdueMom]

Yes, all Americans should be required to carry health insurance.   It is the government's job to either provide or subsidize health insurance for those who cannot afford it.  The only way to truly reform and bring down costs related to health care is to introduce competition to health insurance companies and require everyone have some type of insurance.

I'm still reading the current bill.

Yes, I have health insurance. 

[bakebiscotti]

I'd disagree with you there.  The only way to reform is to remove the insurance companies from the equation, develop a medicare type system for everyone where there is a single payer and then you can call it reform.  As it stands now, what is happening is a regulatory issue not reform.  It's insurance reform not health care reform.

Quoting PurdueMom:

Yes, all Americans should be required to carry health insurance.   It is the government's job to either provide or subsidize health insurance for those who cannot afford it.  The only way to truly reform and bring down costs related to health care is to introduce competition to health insurance companies and require everyone have some type of insurance.

I'm still reading the current bill.

Yes, I have health insurance.