LANDMARK HEALTH BILL PASSES HOUSE ON CLOSE VOTE

Source: Lew Rockwell Blog

by David Kramer

(All emphasis mine)

The Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed landmark health care reform legislation, handing President Barack Obama a hard won victory on his signature domestic priority. A triumphant Speaker Nancy Pelosi compared the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later. [And we all know how "solvent" those two government programs are.]

The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees.* [Just what a company needs in bad economic times: another major expense. That should help it keeps its business afloat.] Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government’s mandates.

Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history. [Great! The gunvernment just forcibly removed probably the most important tool for an insurance company to be able to properly allocate risk in its insurance rates. That should really make private health insurance more "efficient."] The industry would also lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price fixing and market allocation. [We wouldn't want to let the market allocate resources properly; that's what we have a multi-trillion dollar indebted Federal Government for.]

It won’t be long now, folks.
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*That should be a great incentive for large companies to start replacing all of its permanent employees with temps—who would not qualify for company benefits.