With the US Supreme Court poised to decide on the insurance mandate of Obamacare, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, the idea of the mandate that Teapublicans now oppose was originated by…you guessed it…Teapublicans!
Second, the federal government already mandates that our citizens and businesses purchase insurance…even health insurance. You are currently mandated to pay for Social Security insurance and Medicare, and employers are mandated to pay for unemployment insurance.
Whats different about the federal government mandating that we pay for health insurance?
If the Court rules that the insurance mandate is unconstitutional, will we then see lawsuits claiming that the other mandates are unconstitutional as well? Will we no longer have Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance? Teapublicans have already tried to dismantle these safety nets.
And what will happen to our health care system? Since Congress has previously passed legislation mandating hospitals to provide emergency medical treatment to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay, those costs will continue to be passed along to the insured through higher fees. Given the fact that more than 60 million Americans will be left uninsured, health care costs will continue to rise at a rate more than 10 times that of inflation.
Moreover, the rising cost of health care will continue to push multi-national corporations to send jobs overseas. The number of uninsured will continue to increase, unemployment will remain high, and quality health care will eventually become affordable only to the wealthy.
Its no exaggeration to state that this decision is the most important in the Courts history. The political implications will be even greater than the conservative majority voting to give the 2000 election to George W. Bush and voting to permit corporations to buy our elections.