even though they can afford it.

employment is in the forefront of my mind today.

They are folks who purposely choose to forego buying healthcare insurance for whatever reason. A lot of them are recent college grads who don't see the benefit...but they could afford it if...they just elect not to spend the money due to very low need.

Many studies have been done regarding the voluntarily non-covered. Kaiser did a study several years ago around just this demographic.

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/stories/2009/october/04/npr-voluntarily-uninsured-explainer.aspx

Same diff.

That is when the mandate goes into effect.

See my link above.

They are voluntarily choosing not to pay for insurance, and volunteering for the taxpayers, health care consumers, and insured, to pay their way when they do get sick. Bout time they paid their fair share, and if they can't the HCR has features that will make it affordable for them.

Just like we're forced to have car insurance, and we ALL pay when someone is uninsured.. this is the same damn thing. Ever get in an accident with someone uninsured??? Who pays? your insurance, your deductibles. Same thing. We all pay when people choose not to have insurance.

Some are 20 somethings that maybe get sick once a year and go to Urgent Care, pay the fee and buy their scripts, then they're done. Probably $300 tops...and thus, they don't see the need to pay thousands in premiums.

I think there are quite a few folks out there like this who won't have that option anymore and will be voting in November. In 2008, they were a prime demographic for Obama. It just makes me think...

S/he wasn't talking about impoverished people - who evidently you despise

'voluntarily uninsured' could mean thousands of young people who don't choose to give insurance companies money when they're not likely to get sick or need much care. Obama and the Democrats enjoyed wide support from these young people. Will they still have it?

For them the cost outweighs the benefit. Whatever else might be said about it it is completely rationale and understandable. Even getting more benefits than they might have paid for is exactly the standard that a corporation would attempt to secure for itself under any remotely similar circumstance.

The truth is just this. When a significant minority decide to play by the same rules used by the elite, it creates a serious problem with healthcare funding.

So, the solution is as it ALWAYS has been. If AVERAGE people want to do something to help themselves then AVERAGE people have to pay for that. And in this case, the average people sort of must include the 20-somethings who are in great health and the 50-somethings who are rejected from jobs and can't pay the price of health insurance because they have 'pre-existing' conditions.

I get this simple point...We are in this together, or we cannot be in this at all.

But that doesn't give me any confidence that the health related corporations won't figure out a way to suck even greater proportions of money out of average people

of my own pocket, and at higher rates than you paid.

It is because they can't afford it. And if they are low income, they will get subsidized. Many may be college age type kids who don't realize they can get on their parents' plan until age 26. There will also be expanded Medicaid for those of very low income. So enough of this crap.

I work with a lot of recent college grads and you'd be surprised how many of them forego insurance because they're young and don't think they need it. That's something for 'older people'...like a 401K. And just because they can, many parents aren't going to want to continue to subsidize their adult children's healthcare...especially when they have full time jobs with benefits and can purchase their own. Times are just as tough for parents.

they'll bitch and moan about "rights" and "liberty" until they, or someone in their family, has a heart attack or gets cancer and they realize that by being voluntarily uninsured they've pretty much relegated themselves into poverty or an early grave.

because I can't afford the premiums currently and don't like writing bad checks.

I don't think we have 18 million folks so wealthy that they would just write a check for any and all care they might require. But maybe we do. And if that's the case, they can suck it up and pay that piddly little penalty.

My question was around how those being forced to do so would vote in November. Because it's not an insignificant number of people.

Nevermind, I should have known better than to ask.

the bunch will lean toward getting the black guy out of their white house, just like before the ruling.

and my SO is one now.

My take is that most uninsured people are worried that an unexpected medical emergency could pop up one day. My SO is not bitter and says he planned to get insurance at some point anyway. I think the ruling just pushes that transition along.

medicare and social security are mandated taxes. when employers and employees figure out it`s cheaper to increase the existing tax to a certain percent it will be cheaper than the corporate policy they have now.