.... people have to have “buy in” one way or the other. This is a big shortcoming with current system.
For the chunk of people who have health insurance plans through their employer, they don’t really feel the costs as the employer pays the premium.
For the chunk of people on medicare, Government (taxpayers) is paying.
For small businesses or self employed folks like me, we do feel it because we pay the high monthly premiums. My beef is subsidizing all the people who don’t give a hoot about their personal health — overweight, smoke, no exercise, etc. Plus, most private insurance companies have no real competition. Hence, I spend $40k/year for health insurance, just for my family. And we likely cost the insurance company about $3-5k/year.
If we are going to have a public option (which makes sense), then the person pays the government “premium” at x % of their income. X = what it takes to make sure the public option is balanced. The flip side is that person isn’t paying a monthly insurance premium, so don’t bitch that you are taxed for your public option. Hopefully, this builds “bang for your buck” competition between the public option and private insurance companies, and/or creates hybrid options where a person may go public option, but have a side private policy for the catastrophic shit sandwich medical scenario.
Also, anyone signing up for the public option (or private insurance) must sign a medical/end of life directive. The large majority of people do not want their lives unnecessarily prolonged. We spend way too much money during last 6 months of elderly people’s lives, because Aunt Helen doesn’t want her baby brother to pass on. Let Baby Brother be the Decider, when he signs up for the public option or private insurance.
What about people with no income (given I believe that health care is a basic right in a civilized nation)? We have to find clever and equitable ways to fund healthcare for the poor and elderly, besides paying a Medicare tax each month. Sales tax on fuel, cigarettes, booze, fast food restaurants, is a start. Businesses with > 30 employees who do not provide healthcare insurance for employees should pay a higher Medicare tax than businesses who do provide healthcare coverage.