Canuck Gal

From The Horse’s Mouth..

Obama will fine parents who don’t purchase insurance for their children

(Partial transcript, emphasis mine):

OBAMA: Number one, understand that when Senator Clinton says a mandate, it’s not a mandate on government to provide health insurance, it’s a mandate on individuals to purchase it. And Senator Clinton is right; we have to find out what works.

OBAMA: Now, Massachusetts has a mandate right now. They have exempted 20 percent of the uninsured because they have concluded that that 20 percent can’t afford it.

In some cases, there are people who are paying fines and still can’t afford it, so now they’re worse off than they were. They don’t have health insurance and they’re paying a fine.

(APPLAUSE)

In order for you to force people to get health insurance, you’ve got to have a very harsh penalty, and Senator Clinton has said that we won’t go after their wages. Now, this is a substantive difference. But understand that both of us seek to get universal health care. I have a substantive difference with Senator Clinton on how to get there.

BROWN: All right, Senator Clinton?

CLINTON: Wait a minute, no, this is too important. This is the number one issue that people talk to me about. You know, when a mother grabs my arm and says, “I can’t get the operation my son needs because I don’t have health insurance,” it is personal for me.

CLINTON: And I just fundamentally disagree.

You know, Senator Obama’s plan has a mandate on parents and a fine if parents do not…

OBAMA: That’s right.

CLINTON: … insure their children.

OBAMA: That’s right.

CLINTON: Because he recognizes that unless we have some kind of restriction, we will not get there.

OBAMA: There’s a reason.

CLINTON: He’s also said that if people show up at a hospital sick, without health insurance, well, maybe at that point you can fine them.

We would not have a social compact with Social Security and Medicare if everyone did not have to participate. I want a universal health care plan.

On Point..

Excellent Analogy about the “effectiveness” of selective mandating from Hillary, from Aaron Bruns on the Fox News blog (in part)..

Making an historical parallel, Clinton continued, “that would be as though Franklin Roosevelt had said, ‘Social Security is a good idea, but we shouldn’t make it required. Let’s just sort of go halfway and see what happens.’ Or if President Johnson had said, ‘Medicare is a good idea. Why don’t we cover a lot of but not all of our seniors?’”

Experts Agree..

From a comment written by Corky on the Drudge Retort blog (in part)..

Urban Institute’s John Holahan: ‘Implementing universal coverage requires an individual mandate.’ John Holahan, Principal Researcher at the Urban Institute wrote, “Implementing universal coverage requires an individual mandate, which may or may not be combined with an employer mandate. Implementing them would make insurance accessible and affordable, and reduce the number of uninsured by about one-third. Covering the remaining two-thirds is only achievable if health insurance is made mandatory in the state.” [Urban Institute, Report for the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, October 2005]

MIT’s Jonathan Gruber: ‘Without a mandate you never get those people covered.’ “The mandate is crucial. Many of the uninsured are voluntarily uninsured in the sense that they could get insurance today . . . but chose not to because they don’t need it,’ Gruber said. Without a mandate you never get those people covered.’” [Investor's Business Daily, 7/31/07]

New American Foundations’ Len Nichols: Programs that do not require participation will never approach universality.’ Len Nichols, director of the New American Foundation, testified before the Senate budget committee, “There are only three analytically credible ways to cover all Americans: (1) tax-financed single payer/Medicare for all; (2) employer plus individual mandates to purchase private health insurance; (3) individual mandates alone. Programs that do not require participation will never approach universality.” [US Fed News, 6/26/07]

Hypocrite..

(from Florida Health Insurance, in part):

“Shortly after, Obama sent out a memo noting that in Massachusetts, the only state so far to require residents to buy health insurance, “hundreds of thousands of people have not purchased insurance despite a fine levied on those who fail to do so through their tax returns”

In Short..

• Obama’s plan will not introduce universal coverage
• Obama has repeatedly criticized Clinton’s plan because it forces individuals to buy insurance they may not be able to afford
• Obama agrees that any mandate requires enforcement in order to be successful
• Clinton’s plan is widely and universally credited as being the ONLY plan that introduces universal health care coverage
• Clinton’s plan will ensure fairness in mandating all individuals; Obama’s plan will discriminate against parents by forcing them to pay for insurance
• Obama will fine PARENTS who don’t pay for coverage for their children, but doesn’t address the very same issue with HIS selective mandate (above) as the point he uses to slam Clinton’s plan in Massachussets..
• Note to Obama: “hundreds of thousands of parents will not buy insurance for their children despite fines being levied on them”. The logic works both ways. And Obama’s plan is discriminatory, especially towards single-income families, and single parents. Again, as I have stated over and over again – the vast majority of single parents are WOMEN. Obama will be fining struggling families everywhere, but the mandate will hit the hardest on an already vulnerable population.
• Clinton’s plan – with her universal coverage and therefore universal mandate – is FAIR; Obama’s is not.

Ad Nauseam..

My other posts/links on this topic..

*Disclaimer: I have nothing to gain by endorsing Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama. If I was American, I would absolutely support Clinton. From up here, it is easy to see the forest for the trees. Obama and his campaign are as vague as smoke – and just as hard to pin down. Obama promotes rhetoric supported by illogical, hypocritical arguments designed to play to the emotion of the American voter. Typical signs of a charlatan or quack. I hope Americans make their decision based on factual information that is objectively verifiable as accurate as opposed to jumping on the Obama Bandwagon because of charisma, popularity, or favourable media.

The Essence of Universal Health Care

Obama’s Lack of Credibility in Universal Health Care

“Universal Health Care” an Oxymoron Under Obama

Dr. Carolyn on No Quarter (*must read*)