Relying on Big Brother For Everything

I found this list posted by a Leftist who is dutifully repeating Central Government's talking points.

HORRIFYING OBAMACARE!!!

What is so terrible about:

Keeping your kids on your policy until they reach the age of 26.

If you want to do that, and your insurance company agrees, fine. This is not something that should be forced upon anyone by Central Government.

Eliminating the lifetime cap on benefits.

If you want to do that, and your insurance company agrees, fine. This is not something that should be forced upon anyone by Central Government. What if someone could force you to keep working for them?

Stopping insurance companies from canceling your policy if you get sick.

Insurance companies should keep a contract with you if you keep our end of the contract. I'm not sure why this is a Central Government matter. There are civil lawsuits a person can bring, and your state has an Attorney General and perhaps an Insurance Commissioner.

Lowering the cost of care and medication for Medicare recipients.

Costs are not being lowered. What is going on is that people who aren't getting the service are going to have to pay more for others to get the service. Do you like being forced to pay for services other people you don't even know receive?

Covering preventative care at no charge.

If you want that, and your insurance company agrees, fine. This is not something that should be forced upon anyone by Central Government. Preventative care costs money when it is performed – even if it saves money down the line. (By the way, preventative care that does not actually detect anything harmful is an added expense, and more people will be demanding preventative care.) Clearing brush off of your property is "preventative care" for your home in terms of fires. Should Central Government force your homeowner's insurance company to cover the costs of brush clearance? Do you want someone being able to force you to work without getting paid?

Strengthening fraud protections by increasing penalties.

Great. Fraud should be prevented and punished, and it if happens interstate, then the federal government should be able to assume jurisdiction.

Stopping insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.

Don't like the terms of insurance a company is offering? Go to another insurer, or go without insurance. Should my homeowner's insurance company be forced to extend coverage if I want to add a house that is in the path of a raging wildfire?

Stopping insurance companies from arbitrarily jacking up rates.

Don't like the terms of insurance a company is offering? Go to another insurer, or go without insurance. Should Central Government have the power and the bureaucracy to tell other private businesses whether and when they can raise their prices? Would you want some Central Government stranger to come in and deny a raise you just asked for from your boss?

Getting a rebate if your insurance company spent too much on ads and CEO bonuses.

Don't like how an insurance company is spending its money? Go to another insurer, or go without insurance. Should Central Government have the power and the bureaucracy to tell other private businesses how much they can pay their employees and how much money they can spend on ads? Would you want a Central Government stranger taking money from your bank account and giving to back to your employer because someone didn't like an ad you put on a website, or thought you were paying your plumber too much money?

Tax credits to small businesses so they can afford quality health coverage for their employees.

Why should Central Government encourage small businesses (at the expense of other businesses, individuals, families, etc.) to provide health insurance to employees, while not doing the same when it comes to motor vehicle insurance, homeowner's insurance, renter's insurance, etc.?

Building and improving community health centers.

Why should this be Central Government's responsibility? So many hospitals were built or started by churches. Why not leave this to voluntary associations such as businesses and nonprofits and charities? Or even state and local governments?

Giving working Americans a tax credit so they can afford insurance (begins in 2014).

Why should Central Government encourage working Americans to buy health insurance? What other products and services should Central Government encourage working Americans to buy?

Also in 2014, ending discrimination against adults with pre-exiting conditions.

Don't like the terms of insurance a company is offering? Go to another insurer, or go without insurance. Should my homeowner's insurance company be forced to extend coverage if I want to add a house that is in the path of a raging wildfire?

Preventing insurance companies from charging higher prices to women based solely on their gender (2014).

Don't like the terms of insurance a company is offering? Go to another insurer, or go without insurance. Why not have Central Government prevent life insurance companies from charging men more even though men die younger, and car insurance companies from charging young men more than young women, even though young male drivers cost more? I know this will come as a shock to the gender confused, but men don't get pregnant, never get injured in abortions (although plenty of boys are killed), never give birth, never need lactation consultants, don't get ovarian, uterine, or cervical cancer, are less likely to get breast cancer, etc.

Creating insurance exchanges where people can shop and compare and get the most for their health insurance dollars (2014).

People can already shop and compare health insurance plans now. They could do that a lot more if government retreated from some of their existing controls on insurance companies.

More government involvement in health insurance and health care will make those things less affordable, not more. Government control of something never makes things more affordable. Rather, costs are redistributed, and additional costs are often added in the process, especially if an individual or company thinks "someone else" will pick up the tab so that they will not have to deal with the financial impact of their decisions.

Will some individuals come out ahead because of Obamacare? Yes. Some people come out ahead by robbing others directly too. The difference is, someone who has been robbed by a mugger may get their money returned or may at least see the person who forcibly took money from them brought to justice. People who use Central Government to force strangers to pay their way through life may never have to face those strangers.

There are "hard luck" stories out there, to be sure. But those stories do not justify usurping more choices in voluntary interactions in Central Government, and turning even more of economy over to federal bureaucrats.

That SCOTUS has ruled Obamacare Constitutionally permissible under taxation powers doesn't mean it should stay in place, or that it will make anything better.