2012 ELECTION

[HairOfTheDog]

My understanding is that Obama claims his plan will cut the spending to fund all of the free health care not currently being paid for by the recipients. It's cutting entitlement spending. Obama estimates people who pay for insurance pay higher premiums to cover the uninsured, higher by $900 annually. He says by pooling health care and offering tax credits it is going to drive down the costs so that those who can't afford it now will be able to afford it under his program.

Critics say it's a tax increase. You have to buy it or pay up to $3,800 per year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Senate's individual mandate will result in new revenues of some $20 billion over 10 years because some people will choose to opt out of ObamaCare—or because they can't afford to buy in, given that other taxes and regulation will make health care more expensive.

For auto insurance, if you drive without it and get caught (it's not being tracked by the government), you pay a fine and you have to get it in order to legally continue driving. If you don't have it and you don't get caught, no one is going to come to collect a penalty. I think that's a difference between the Federal requirement for individual health care and states' requirements for automobile insurance, as I understand it anyway.