The reason there is a 'mandatory purchase of private insurance' requirement in the bill is..

[Blackhatjack]

... there is a tipping point that will be reached when enough people are uninsured, that the present system will break down.

Sick people will show up at hospitals and healthcare providers for care without coverage, and when told they will be turned away it would not be a surprise that they will conduct their own 'sit-ins.' Anger will grow, bills will go unpaid, bankruptcy filings will spike. It will get ugly fast.

The insurance companies NEED THIS PROVISION to keep the same system rolling in the profits for them.

[sharesunited]

1. Universal care requires universal coverage, but that's what taxes are for.

That's why Medicare For All is the way to go.

[Zen Democrat]

2. They won't get turned away. Those costs will fold into higher premiums for the insured.

That's the way it is now. The uninsured can get care, but it's not the best care and mostly obtained at the last minute, and the costs are charged at a higher rate than for the insureds.

[Blackhatjack]

4. "The way it is now" will evolve if a bill is not passed. The system will not be able to handle it...

Once uninsureds reach 60-75 million, there won't be sufficient resources to provide care to uninsureds and folding of those costs into higher premiums for the presently insured.

Part of healthcare reform is making sure there are sufficient resources to meet the needs of those seeking care. If the status quo remains in effect, there is going to be a widening of the gap between needs and resources.

[Laelth]

3. Absolutely true, and that's why it's so important to NOT PASS this bill.

Change will come, eventually, UNLESS we pass this disastrous bill.

California will probably pass single-payer on its own in 2011. All they need is a Democratic Governor. The legislature has already passed the bill. Schwarzenegger vetoed it. Once California has single-payer, most (if not all) states will follow suit.

It's likely that if we pass a new law now, the new law will preempt single-payer, i.e. the Federal law will preempt state law and prevent states from enacting a single-payer system.

THIS is what the health insurance companies fear. THIS is what brought them to the bargaining table. THIS is why they are not fighting Obama's tepid reforms, and THIS is why it is extremely important that we do not pass any health insurance reform bill this year.

Let's not settle for a bail-out of the health insurance industry. Let's insist on the eradication of it. In all likelihood, California will lead the way in 2011 ... if we can just give them time.

That's how. Canada got its single-payer system one province at a time. That seems to be the way it will have to happen in the U.S.

:dem:

-Laelth

[bemildred]

5. The question is: why not just use the tax system to pay for it?

That's it's purpose, to raise the necessary revenue to pay for government programs.