as a conservative i believe that liberty is preserved when the state is constrained. I do not see anywhere in the Constitution where we the People gave to Congress the authority to determine for us whether or not our arrangements for our own healthcare met with their approval.
This isn't the point at all! It's not whether or not the government cares what type of health insurance you purchase, but rather to ensure that the health insurance you do purchase has the same level of essential standard benefits as the next guy. Why is this important? Because it levels the playing field of private health insurance companies making sure they all provide the same basic health insurance policies to consumers all state (and regional) insurance markets. Until the reform bill was signed into law, you had various insurance companies offerring different benefits in various basic packages. On the surface, one could say that an insurance policy purchased in Maine isn't necessarily influenced by the same market flucuations in California. This analogy would be true. But as we all know, insurance markets are smaller; they fall into state or regional markets and, as such, health insurance offered in one segment of a marketplace can be (and usually is) different in another segment of that same market. Thus, you have various "standard" policies offerred from the same insurer at different prices. Some would say that's fair...if you don't like the price shop around. But therein lay the problem.
For most working Americans, our health insurance is tied into our jobs! If we leave our jobs, we lose those health benefits. And it's not as if we can drop our employer coverage and shop around. We could, but the cost would be gia-NORMOUS! Why? Because many state laws (and I assume federal as well) prohibit the purchase of health (and auto) insurance across state lines. Therefore, those individuals in states (such as AL where I live) with one or two major insurance carriers are stuck with that insurance "monopoly" to deal with. Move to another state you say? Not that easy, pal.
You see, insurance companies have this thing call "open enrollment" when health insurance is offered through our employers. If you change jobs prior to the enrollment period, most new employees are subject to a waiting period before the insurance at their new job kicks in. And whose to know exactly how long that waiting period between jobs and acceptance into the new insurance group pool will take? A month? Two months? Three months?
Get COBRA in the interim you say? Too damned costly...almost X2 the cost of employer-sponsored insurance. And when you're unemployed either at your own choosing or because you were laid off or fired, it's difficult affording the cost of health insurance without a job (or if you've exhausted your savings in the meantime). But these are real-life issues many Americans face every day.
As a Conservative, I recognize the economic futility of the stated intentions of this bill. I recognize that when you interfere with the operation of free individuals, as it seeks to do, that you will distort the result in ways wildly beyond your imagination and in manners which you never wished to see come to light.
As a Conservative, I don't think that it is up to the state to say what I must or must not do with my money insofar as purchasing of products is concerned. If I want to buy an HSA, that is my business.
Nobody's telling you you can't purchase a HSA. In fact, section 1302(d)(20(B) discusses briefly how the Sec., HHS may handle employer-sponsored HSA's to ensure they meet the same level of benefits "standard" health insurance policies would offer. As far as I've been able to determine, there's nothing in the health care reform bill that procludes you from contributing to one. A simple search through the bill would have rooted that out....took me all of 10 seconds to find the referenced section.[/QUOTE]
As to the single-payer argument, I think that's been discussed already...not gonna happen (at least not for a very long time anyway, if every any politician decides to champion health care reform again any time soon). But I do have one question to ask of you...?
By "state", I have to assume you're referring to the federal government because most states already require their residents to purchase auto insurance (a basis liability policy at a minimum) or risk paying a fine. Do you object to this state emposed mandate where you live?
