I've said it in more than one email to the White House - I'll pay the fine before I pay a private insurance company one damn dollar.

One sure fire way to alienate both the right and the left is to mandate insurance without a government option. Surely, the administration knows this.

Totally agree, I will pay the fine first. A mandate without a public option is a tax with the revenue going straight into the hands of the mafia. F'em.

Out of curiosity, EGB and NanoT, do you have health insurance now? (BTW, I agree with your stance on the mandate without the public option.)

I don't have health insurance any more, and I agree with EGB and Nano. I've also sent emails to the White House citing the moral disconnect of a mandate w/o a public option. I wonder what the fine would be, and how the hell they intend to collect it...

I have ridiculously expensive cobra (more than my mortgage payment) that will run out shortly. Tried to buy an individual policy but was denied due to pre existing conditions-allergies, seasonal asthma, and 2 wrist injuries in the past 3 years. According to the letter I got denying me, I have to complete my COBRA before I can apply for a high risk crappy policy. Same company I tried to buy from (BC) gets to suck me for the COBRA payments. If you try to buy individual from another company (like, the OTHER ONE in my state...) the first question is, "have you ever been turned down for an individual policy". They all use the same underwriters I believe so, even if you were not turned down, your rate quote would be identical no matter what company you tried to buy from. Hmm, to me that's price setting and anti-competition but I'm just a lowly MBA...

I don't have insurance right now, partly because I can't afford even the meager premium (and the reduced coverage because I'm only part-time with my company). And after seeing "Sicko" and watching the market eat itself last fall, I've decided to forgo insurance and any sort of 401k for the time being. Both are rip-offs in my opinion. I'd rather not pay for insurance because all I feel like I'll get is the opportunity to go to a doctor to find out I have an ailment the company would refuse to cover anyway. Why do I need them for that?

Again - I think Rep. Weiner was a genius the other day. His question "what value does the private insurance company bring" hit the nail on the head. They bring no value whatsoever.

>>One sure fire way to alienate both the right and the left is to mandate insurance without a government option. Surely, the administration knows this.

Sure, but Max Baucus's outline included no public option and a mandate. Because he is a piece of shit.

Sorry, I'm running out of clever ways to rag on Baucus. He's just a piece of shit. Taking millions of dollars from an industry and then forcing your constituents, many of whom have made the personal decision not to buy insurance because they can't afford it, to buy their faulty product under threat of government fine? Piece. of. Shit.