right? Which will increase pressure for Single Payer, right? I wonder how long that will take to bear fruit. Say, 5 years until there's enough EFFECTIVE grassroots political pressure to make Single Payer happen - BUT - we have some more congressional elections and another presidential election, before we achieve that focused critical mass amongst the grassroots (however long that takes), so the Single Payer goal gets derailed again politically by Citizens' United, right? Fuck what the people actually want.
These are the reasons that I am willing to consider the mandate. That and at least for the time being mandated COMPARISON shopping in the insurance exchanges, along with ACA traits such as the prohibition against pre-existing conditions; keeping dependent children on family policies until (was it?) age 26; the 85% MLR; and as yet un-developed perks like the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (all just for starters, because I'm sure there are other pluses to ACA itself, ir-respective of the mandate), along with (HR 676) pressure to review and reform Medicare to make it more efficient and patient-centered . . . all of that is creating more awareness amongst mandated customers about just how much they are being ripped off. They are becoming more aware, because, by law, they are REQUIRED to become more aware in order to buy insurance. That awareness is supposed to create pressure in the market place, which, if insurance companies can't meet the demands arising from that awareness, their prices are going to go up and eventually many will be out of business. The mandate creates that pressure.
I just think there is a bet here that this whole process is going to create more demand for more Medicare-like health insurance. Enter, at minimum, HR 676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All http://www.pnhp.org/ Another reason I am interested in this is because I know from first hand work that MANY health care providers and students are interested in HR 676. I hypothesize that they are looking for NEW BUSINESS MODELS and will get them in the quickest way available to them. Some of these professionals are all out Single Payer advocates; others want a more controlled transition that goes there if all else fails.
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