If this is true, I kinda agree with Rand Paul (hope not to be struck by lightening..)

[question everything]

Here is what he said on This Week:

The fundamental flaw of Obamacare was that it added regulations to insurance, mandates, which made insurance more expensive, but then it also told individuals, you know what, if you don't want to buy now, you can wait and buy it after you're sick. That still remains, 10 of 12 regulations that add cost to insurance remain under the Republican bill. And we still say you can still by insurance after you're sick.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-25-17-kellyanne-conway-sen-chuck/story?id=48254926

I don't know about regulations, but agree that individuals should have insurance. I thought this was part of the ACA, that each should have one.

I think that we have the elimination of pre-existing conditions as a start. Someone who was covered by employer, left the job - for whatever reasons - and now cannot get a new insurance because, like most of us, by middle age you do have pre-existing conditions. Certainly insurance companies were known to dig something up.

But if you are 26 and just now leaving your parents policy, to get one on your own, you need to have one. As I am typing this I think that one has to have a proof of car insurance to own and drive a car. So why not have health insurance, even a basic one, to renew driver's license?

OK, shoot

[tazkcmo]

1. I don't know squat

Except health insurance shouldn't be the goal but healthCARE should be, ala France. Cheaper and better by far.

[question everything]

2. Agree. And I hope that the results of these debate will be a single payer

Many commentators agree that it leads to it. I think that a lot more people realize that it is important that each of us has access to affordable health care. This did not exist until, really the Republicans too control.

In many countries people pay an extra tax - same percentage for all with access to national health care. Not the convoluted "insurance exchange" which, like you, I don't know squat.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. This is true. With all the arguing going on, actual the delivery of healthcare is largely ignored...

We have the most expensive system in the world, but the least access in the developed world.

[GeorgeGist]

4. Huh?

[NobodyHere]

5. If I'm reading you correctly

You want people to have health insurance to get a driver's license?

That would just price some lower-income people out of driving legally.

[BzaDem]

6. Obamacare's individual mandate fines people for not purchasing health insurance for this very reason

And the Republican bill removes this provision (called the individual mandate).

Of course, Obamacare does much more than that: it provides large subsidies to help people afford coverage, and waives the mandate if such coverage is still unaffordable. The Republican bill reduces such subsidies.

[Warpy]

7. Well, not quite. If you were healthy and didn't buy your insurance

you got socked with a fine at tax time, something Ryan conveniently forgets. There was an incentive for healthy people to be insured before they got sick or injured.

And those onerous regulations? That was so insurance companies couldn't drag their feet on approving care until the subscriber was dead, something that was happening more and more.

Ryan is full of shit, as always.

However, I do like your driver's license idea. Unfortunately, a lot of young people aren't bothering with those, either. No jobs, nowhere to drive.

[MiniMe]

8. This part is just wrong

"if you don't want to buy now, you can wait and buy it after you're sick" You can't buy homeowners insurance after you have a fire, or car insurance after you have an accident. Why should you be able to buy health insurance after you are sick?

[Motley13]

9. Listen to Bernie on this one, single payor is the only option

leaving it to the states is insanity.
Obama wanted it but knew he couldn't get it
If you don't have the mandate, anything will fail