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A Peek Into Universal Healthcare

Hey folks

In the Health and Science segment this week, we get a peak into Universal Healthcare. Get this, from the Daily Herald - Every Utahn may be required to have health insurance.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Every Utah resident would be required to have health insurance under a plan being pushed by Gov. Jon Huntsman's advisers.

"It's a significant shift from the concept we've been living with for almost 30 years," said attorney John Nielsen, an adviser to the governor on health reform. "We see it as a fundamental change that needs to take place. The current system, especially in the small-group arena, is simply not sustainable."

The goal of the three-year plan is to reduce the number of uninsured residents and slow the rising costs of health care, said House Majority Leader Rep. David Clark, who has been working on the plan.

"This is not government insurance. We don't think that's the solution to these challenges. Individuals are going to have more responsibility," he said. "Our goal is to try to find a way for every Utahn to have an opportunity to have access to health care."

For the poor, the plan would aim to boost enrollment in existing programs such as Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and Utah's Premium Partnership for Health, which helps workers pay premiums.

That's nice. Help the poor kids. Who could be against that. Right?

Working residents who do not qualify for those programs but can't afford health insurance would receive subsidies that put coverage within their reach.

That's not kids. But get this.

People who can afford health insurance but don't buy it could be prohibited from enrolling in university classes or getting a job.

Join our Universal Healthcare or else.

Nielsen said it's possible they also could someday face a tax penalty, as is the case in Massachusetts.

You will pay BIG time.

"I think there are going to be some who view that as oppressive and interfering with personal choice and personal liberties," he said. "But one person does affect another person. The people who simply choose to ignore their personal responsibility -- everyone else has to pay for that."

Socialism Folks. OF COURSE it interferes with personal choice. Of course it's oppressive. That's the point. In Universal Healthcare, you do not HAVE a choice. When it fails, where will you go to get Healthcare?

Stephen Neeleman, a physician and chief executive officer of HealthEquity Inc., in Draper, reviewed a copy of the draft report obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune and liked the ideas behind it.

"Just like you have to have car insurance to drive a car in the state, if you want to live and work in Utah, you should have health insurance," he said.

Neeleman said the proposal has all of the necessary elements to "do something truly remarkable."

Remarkably BAD.

Clark said he will present a more detailed proposal to his Republican caucus Dec. 17.

While the draft calls for "requiring and enforcing health insurance for all residents of Utah," Clark said this year's legislation won't include such a "Massachusetts mandate." Requiring college students and employees to prove they are insured is also still under debate, he said.

"This is the most complicated and challenging issue by tenfold of any I've dealt with at the Capitol," he said. "Health care has thousands of moving parts and has very lasting consequences. We're going to be very deliberative and very careful as we go forward."

Folks, this is Utah. But imagine if this becomes Universal. When it fails, like all things the Government gets involved in, where would you go? When they start oppressing you. Start forcing you into the system, you lose freedom of choice. What if they decide you BETTER get this procedure done, for this or that? If you do not do it? They will have complete and total control over who gets what kind of treatment. Scary thought. But it's becoming a reality.

Peter