Obama Care vs Republicans

[Adak]

I'm not sure how maternity care and breast screenings were paid for by the pool of the insured, in the past. However it was done, it should continue that same way, as much as possible, now.

But mental health? THAT's a big Big, BIG expense, that most companies don't even offer in their health insurance plans for their employees. Not to mention that mental health insurance was not mentioned previously by the Democrats, as a requirement for ACA approved health insurance.

Forcing that cost onto us now, is one more BIG price increase in people's health insurance. It won't be well accepted when we start getting the price hikes that must accompany this forced, extra coverage.

It's hard to accept a new coverage being forced onto us, when we have no idea how much that extra cost will be. And in fact, we have no idea what the cost of our current plans will be, because the characteristics of the pool for each plan that's offered, is still unknown.

It's like we never heard of running a small scale pilot program - what a concept!

International Franchise Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce say only 1 in 12 small businesses will be helped by Obamacare.

http://www.aei.org/media/economics/i...icas-newsroom/

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Adak

But mental health?

Basically, if our country wants to be the largest industrial nation in the world with easy access to firearms, then we should also have cheap or free access to mental health.

We pay BILLIONS of dollars to protect ourselves from terrorist attacks. The fact is that we are more likely to be killed by someone 'losing it' with a gun than by a terrorist.

If junior is hearing voices and owns a few guns, I would be willing to pay extra into the system so that when his mom warns the cops there is a place for him to stay and whatever professional help and drugs he needs.

The alternative is having an unpleasant meeting with him in a school, movie theater, mall.....

If more insurance companies get involved, the costs will go down as contracts are negotiated. The reason they are high now is that not enough attention was being paid.

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by richlevy

Basically, if our country wants to be the largest industrial nation in the world with easy access to firearms, then we should also have cheap or free access to mental health.

This line of reasoning is extremely offensive to the mental health community and its patients. You may want to apologize.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

This line of reasoning is extremely offensive to the mental health community and its patients. You may want to apologize.

For saying that they are needed? After hearing the backstories of some of these recent massacres, that really appeared to be an issue.

I'm not being trivial here. There is a point at which the ease of access to healthcare for someone else affects me. It becomes more enlightened self-interest than pure altruism. Firearms are an extreme example, but there are also strangers whose lives intersect and affect my own. Companies make a big deal about impairment due to recreational drugs, because an intrusive drug test and a 'drug free' sticker is cheap. They don't say anything about how a person's mental state might affect their performance or interaction with me.