*Expand Medicaid eligibility to include greater numbers of the uninsured
*Mandate coverage for children
*Create a national exchange through which the uninsured could purchase a public or private policy
*Provide subsidies to lower-income individuals and small businesses to help defray the cost of purchasing insurance
*Tax medium- to large-size firms that decline to provide their employees with health insurance. (This point irks me!)
*Small businesses would be exempt from mandatory coverage or contributions and would receive a tax credit of up to 50% on health care premiums for employees.
I have A LOT of questions regarding this plan, the dominant one being how will this be paid for?
As I said above, I have an issue with imposing a punitive tax on certain businesses that opt out of providing insurance to their employees. This is the land of the FREE--free choice included. That means the employers should make the decision without fear of governmental penalty whether or not they will provide health insurance. Additionally, people are free to choose jobs that provide health insurance. This may sound too simple and maybe a little unsympathetic, but I believe in a free market society and freedom of choice, not governmental control.
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