Even clearer, via The Transom: You can tax anything that moves. and anything that doesn't move. But you can't use the commerce clause to make something move that isn't moving.
For starters, this doesn't work with emergency care, which is amongst the most expensive part of healthcare. While no one can reject you, they also don't have to approve you immediately. Second, is this really any different than just not getting health care, and once you think you might have cancer, switching to a job that includes health benefits? It's a little more work, but you also don't have to pay any penalty. Between the penalties and these regular checkups that you'd be apparently getting, you're not saving that much in health care as compared to basic coverage - and most people probably wouldn't think the savings to be worth the risk they are taking of bankruptcy from an accident/emergency. Third, the evidence from Massachusetts is that this type of scheme doesn't really occur on any notable scale. Virtually everyone in Massachusetts got coverage even when there were only small penalties in place - people WANT coverage at the end of the day. They were just unable to get it for various reasons (pre-existing conditions, lack of a marketplace, finances, etc).
Notice that nowhere does it mention community rating, which limits the amount that can be charged to the most expensive customers as a multiple of the least expensive customers. It costs over 6x as much to insure elderly people as it does the young, yet the ACA capped the ratio at 3X to buy off the AARP. Basically, if you are young and healthy your insurance premiums are going UP UP UP to subsidize old people. The same old people who ran up a massive national debt by keeping taxes too low to support the level of government services they wanted, and who are the wealthiest generation in the history of the world. The best part is that money is being distributed away from the first generation in American history to be worse off than their parents, and who in many cases have massive student loans with poor job prospects (because old people aren't retiring to open up jobs). The generational theft going on is shocking.
I like how The Simpsons explain it http://www.buzzfeed.com/schmidtm/scotus-healthcare-ruling-as-told-by-simpsons-gifs Simpsons GIFs Explain ObamaCare Ruling The Ruling Broke Early This Morning How CNN Handled The Situation The Internet Went The Right's Reactions The Left's Reactions President Obama And Vice President Joe Biden Right Now People At Home
It's only a tax on your if you don't have insurance and can afford it. Got insurance? No tax. Don't have insurance because you can't afford it? They'll help you.
Here's something I've always wondered and always forget to look up and/or ask about: my doc Rx'd me for fish oil and niacin, both for hyperlipidemia (aka high cholesterol). If I buy the OTC versions of both, can I submit it to my insurance company for reimbursement and/or write it off on my taxes or something as a medical expense? (and thanks for the link, OP.)
