"And, I don't see how there are 'negative budget effects' considering that it should mostly be a zero sum game... with the hospitals and States and private citizens (through their taxes) ALREADY having to pay for the uninsured's use of emergency hospital care." Simply Conjecture
If I go to the hospital as an uninsured person and rack up a $5,000 bill, and can't pay, then a portion of that is reimbursed by the Federal Govt, the rest is written off as "Charity".
If I go the the hospital as an insured person under ObamaCare and rack up a $5,000 bill, I still can't pay it and the insurance isn't going to pay it until I reach my deductible of $6,500. Nothing has changed except that the Govt. has been paying the insurance companies a subsidy, and they still have to pay the non-payment bill to the hospital.
Perhaps one should consider the long term costs of putting uninsured citizens onto FREE Government Sponsored Healthcare which will be taken away if/when that "working poor citizen" improves themselves through higher education and training that would eclipse the Federal Standards to qualify for FREE Medicaid and other Federal Programs. What are the costs to the Federal Budget of converting a person from being a "draw on the Federal Treasury" to a "net addition to the Federal Treasury"???.
Interesting on how the "Progressives" are willing to simply write off poor Americans as being "unable to provide for themselves and their families today or in the future. Herding them into "entitlement programs that entrap them into a life of poverty".
I grew up "dirt poor", but I raised my self out of that situation on my own hard work and good decisions in life. Last year I paid the IRS in excess of $200k in taxes. Looking back, if the Govt. had supplied me with a host of "entitlement programs", I doubt that my life would be anything like it is today. Not even close... So you see, I am one of those "Private Citizens" (through their taxes) people.
So instead of being a life-long draw on the Govt., I am a top income earner for the Govt.
I am so thankful that these "programs" were not widely available when I was in my teens/early twenties to become addicted to. Or I would most likely still be "dirt poor".
We should be concentrating on creating "incentives" for people to improve themselves and earn more money and pay more taxes, rather than creating "dis-incentives" for self-improvement.
And so it goes,
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