Right-wingers OUTRAGED that prostitutes are allowed to buy health insurance

[memphis]

How can Americans be punished for having sex if the government is taking steps to control the spread of diseases? Why don't liberals understand that people who have sex deserve a slow, painful death from syphilis. It's what our loving God intended.

[memphis]

If they didn't have access to healthcare before, it's because the market would not support it (and it's pretty clear why).  You can argue that this is a market failure that the government should correct, but if the GOP is concerned about how Obamacare will affect insurance companies (and in turn insurance purchasers), their concerns and "outrage" are quite logical here.  If you have too many high-risk insureds purchasing insurance without enough low-risk insureds also purchasing insurance, insurance companies will lose, rather than make money, resulting in, eventually, substantially less people who are insured.

And that's why we have the individual mandate. So it's not just high risk people. But the Republicans think that's tyranny

[memphis]

If they didn't have access to healthcare before, it's because the market would not support it (and it's pretty clear why).  You can argue that this is a market failure that the government should correct, but if the GOP is concerned about how Obamacare will affect insurance companies (and in turn insurance purchasers), their concerns and "outrage" are quite logical here.  If you have too many high-risk insureds purchasing insurance without enough low-risk insureds also purchasing insurance, insurance companies will lose, rather than make money, resulting in, eventually, substantially less people who are insured.

And that's why we have the individual mandate. So it's not just high risk people. But the Republicans think that's tyranny

But the individual mandate will only work if the tax for not getting insurance is more than the cost of getting insurance, which it's not.  The individual mandate has no teeth, rendering it largely ineffective.

That logic implies that the value of insurance is zero, when it's obviously worth something. Not only do you get to bypass the fine, you also get insurance. But having every individual go out and buy their own insurance policy from private companies is obviously the worst way to try for universal coverage. You'll get no argument from me on that.

[memphis]

Starting the penalty small is so stupid. Whenever a system is new, you want to set expectations immediately. When a new highway opens, the police don't ignore it the first week. They flood the road with speed traps, so people know they have to follow the rules.