Quote Originally Posted by joshstrike View Post
I'm sort of P.O.'d at the idea that I'd have to buy health insurance. Even though I do buy health insurance.

Hanratty makes a point that his company is going to report his health plan as taxable income, which is a good one. I'm wondering what it will do to a freelancer like me, on an independent plan. From the talking points, it looks like it could be a decent safety net; like if I have a bad year, I might qualify for a tax break / subsidy / whatever, and I could buy my insurance on their exchange. Does anyone know how that actually is supposed to work? Like, say I have a private Blue Cross plan and I have a down year where I make less than 80k. Will I get some kind of tax refund?

Actually, as I'm typing this, I'm kind of answering my own question. "Yeah right"...
Here is a calculator that will tell you what subsidy (if any) you would get and how much a health plan bought through the exchange would cost: http://healthreform.kff.org/SubsidyCalculator.aspx

When I was single, I had a basic plan for $900 a year. According to this calculator, the cost for someone in the same circumstance will be three times as much.

The figure it gives me for my current family of four is also more expensive than what I currently pay through a private company. The problem is that, based on other new requirements, my rate at the private company is undoubtedly going to go up.

The bill is designed to bankrupt private insurance companies so that Democrats can gain a foothold for what they really want: single payer health care and a national VAT tax. Not because it creates better health outcomes for our country but because it is politically advantageous to Democrats to create larger public sector industries.

cancerinform is right. It's not about health care for Democrats. It's about gaining political power.