[Hugh R]

I would welcome a rational, non-inflammatory discussion of this subject (all subjects for that matter). You have to understand the concept of insurance. You bet you are going to get sick, have a car accident, your house is going to burn down (whatever type of insurance). The insurance co. is betting that won't happen. The idea of insurance is pooled risk. Let's take homeowners insurance, the insurance company is spreading the risk between thousands of homeowners, if one house burns, they pay, in the mean time, they take the premiums and invest them in whatever and make a profit on that investment. That is how they make money. They don't create their insurance company to help protect the public, they do it to make money, plain and simple. You don't like it, don't buy insurance.

You don't see regulators saying that 85% or 90% of homeowners premiums must go back to the insured do you? But in healthcare that is exactly what you see. If I can buy homeowners insurance after my house burns down, how long do you think those insurance carriers are going to survive? The same with health insurance; they won't be around if they have to offer the sick, those with illnesses (pre-existing conditions) the exact same premium as a young health, non-smoking, non-drinking heath and exercise nut.

I pay more for my fire insurance than the average Joe, why? I live in brush fire country. I should pay more, because I present more risk of a claim. Those with DUI's pay more in car insurance than those with a clean record.

The legislators tend to forget these things, and see "affordable" H/C as a "right".

BTW, for the 30 million or so that the dems point out as not having health insurance, they could have extended medicare/medicaid to them for free for a fraction of the cost that Obamacare is going to cost the country. Something like 75% of Americans were "OK" with their healthcare coverage, not delighted, but "OK". Name me one other subject were 75% of Americans were "OK", as in agreement, with any other issue.