In John Nichols' column about the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' recent opinion striking down the "individual mandate" (IM) portion of the Affordable Care Act, he correctly points out that this decision is actually a very positive development in the fight over the American people's "right" to adequate medical care versus the "right" of large health insurance companies to deny care at their whim so as to maximize their profits.
After all, the primary effect of the IM will be to force people to pay money that many can't afford and thereby produce more windfall profits for greedy health insurance company executives and shareholders.
The most critical part of the appellate court's opinion consists of its conclusion that the IM provision is "severable" from the rest of the law i.e. the court's finding that the IM is unconstitutional does NOT invalidate the entire law, only the IM portion of it.
I can hear the Blue Cross executives screaming from here. And I think they're somewhere in the Midwest. Most of them are probably on their way home after over indulging in fried butter sticks and voting for Michele Bachmann in the Iowa straw poll.
What follows is a copy of a letter that I wrote on The Nation's blog in response to Mr. Nichols' article:
"In reference to John Nichols' column about 'Medicare for All,' he neglects to mention some of the most significant negative effects that will surely ensue if single payer is enacted:
(1) 120 Americans will no longer have the opportunity to die each and every day from lack of adequate medical care;
(2) We will lose the privilege of paying $350 billion per year for Health Insurance Companies' profits and administrative costs;
(3) We will be forced to pay approximately 40% of what we currently pay for our medications, thereby costing our friends in the pharmaceutical industry an equivalent share of their current profits; and
(4) We will no longer be able to enjoy some of the most important benefits of the current system, such as paying for our deductibles and co-pays.
But the worst part of all of this is that insurance company executives will lose the take home packages to which they have become accustomed, such as the $14 million that Wellpoint CEO Angela Braly took home last year shortly before she explained to the press that Blue Cross had no choice but to raise its premium rates by up to 39% this year because they had suffered through such a terrible fourth quarter last fall.
So, in view of this entire parade of horribles, doesn't our 'free market society' demand that our system of dispensing medical care remain exactly as is?'
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