Refuse to be nannied? Then get ready to be sued.
This quote is part of a longer article on why the author won’t ever vote for Mitt Romney for president until he admits that RomneyCare was a mistake, but there’s a clip that is relevant to our future under Romneycare’s national cousin, ObamaCare. Mittβs bad medicine:
No, this is all about policy, specifically Romneycare – which has thus far been the Big Dig of health care, except costs have risen faster.
Obamacare has the benefit of having not yet been fully implemented. Itβs already hurting the economy and costing people their jobs, but the worst has yet to arrive. Well the Romneycare disaster is already upon us.
The highest health insurance costs, the highest medical costs and the fastest rising costs. Massachusetts has them all, thanks to Romney. And theyβre getting worse.
Meanwhile the Herald reported yesterday that the folks at the beloved Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector created under Romneycare are βcracking down on more than 3,000 residents who are fighting state fines, and has even hired a private law firm to force the health insurance scofflaws to pay penalties of up to $2,000 a year.β
Big Brother is watching – and suing – you.
Emphasis added.
The same is almost inevitable under ObamaCare, because its universal coverage provisions require universal subscription, either through buying one of the government-approved (and more expensive) plans, or by paying a tax penalty fine for refusing to buy a plan. That’s the infamous individual mandate, which takes the unprecedented step of requiring citizens, as a condition for merely living, to engage in an economic activity whether they want to or not – and punishes you if you refuse. And it is unconstitutional.
But, the government has to have this money in order for ObamaCare to even have a snowball’s chance of working. It must take money from the more healthy, younger portion of the workforce that won’t need as much insurance to subsidize universal coverage for the remainder, which is likely to need more frequent and more expensive care. (Rationing comes into this, too, but that’s a separate issue.)
Thus, as costs increase under ObamaCare (and even the government says they will), pressure will mount to go after those who refuse to pay the fine, as the article describes, and maybe even after those who game the system by paying the fine and then buying coverage only when they truly need it.
So, get ready. Not only will Uncle Sam tell you what kind of insurance you must buy and at what price, but he’ll probably sue you if you don’t play along.
(Crossposted at Public Secrets)