Quote from HI-TEC-REDNECK on May 1^st, 2012, 5:18am:

 
Insurance premiums have been rising (and will continue to rise) because of uncontrolled healthcare costs that have been ongoing for > 20 years, not because of Obamacare.  Having millions of uninsured people who don't seek medical care until late in the course of their illness is one factor that leads to higher costs.  Universal healthcare will reduce costs in the long-run.  We also need large cuts to Medicare and elimination of the excessive amount of waste in the healthcare system.  Obamacare is not perfect, but unfortunately the Republican leadership has not offered a viable alternative to solve the healthcare problem.

Obamacare doesn’t get fully implemented until 2014, so to blame it on current rising costs is misguided.  When the interstate insurance exchanges get going and the individual mandate kicks in then the rate of price increase should lessen.
 
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Exactly!  This is why the mandate is necessary.  Currently a person can choose not to buy health insurance, but if they have an accident and end up in the emergency room and can’t pay then taxpayers have to foot the bill.  It amazes me how conservatives can argue in favor of a system which allows freeloaders to mooch off the rest of us.  The mandate, on the other hand, says you need to buy health insurance now, not wait until you are sick or need emergency care.  It’s based on the principle of individual responsibility, which conservatives used to support.

Socialism?  Ha ha.  The individual mandate was originally a Republican idea from the conservative Heritage Foundation, and I don’t recall any conservatives protesting when the current Republican nominee for President instituted the mandate in Massachusetts.  The mandate only became a horrible infringement on our freedoms when Obama proposed it.  It seems that you and tea-party types define socialism as anything that Obama does or proposes, even if it used to be supported by conservatives.

Quote from HI-TEC-REDNECK on May 2^nd, 2012, 3:11pm:

 
I 2nd that wrt Romney. And Obama is Bush W Jr.... Let's not forget there's still another man in the GOP nomination race...
 
Anyway, regarding health care, personal experience this year: my family's health insurance premium would have gone up 5% this year, however they added an extra charge per month because I am covering my wife (I always have, this is nothing new...) and she could have otherwise gotten coverage under her own employer's plan.  They said this extra surcharge was directly due to provisions of the new health care bill.  Net result: my health insurance costs rose 25% this year.  We looked at options of her going with her own coverage, and me going with mine, and splitting the children in various ways, and this was still the cheapest.
 
So as far as my personal experience has gone this year, HT is absolutely spot on.  As much as I don't like the status quo, this monstrosity of a bill has to be repealed.  It is an utter failure already.
 
Could they be lying and just scamming & blaming it on Obamacare?  I guess it's possible.  But if so, the bill still enabled said lying, scamming, and gouging.  Where's Big Man AG Eric Holder cracking down on such abuses?  Oh yeah.. I forgot... asleep at the wheel... that is, unless he's busting real criminals, like you know, Amish trying to sell raw milk to willing buyers...  or completely legal medical marijuana providers in Cali & Oregon & Colorado.... Oh, he doesn't "have time" for busting 'Big Health' for fraud, or MF Global (and big time Obama fundraiser CEO Jon Corzine) for outright stealing $1.2B from segregated customer accounts.  Anyway I digress.
 
I still maintain the easiest route would have been to allow every American to buy (note: not get free) into the same health care plan that Congress gets if they want to (no unconstitutional mandate) as an option.  Speaking of which, members of Congress should buy into it as well.