Under Senate health care plan, either way you pay

[thundley4]

WASHINGTON – First you paid to insure your car. Soon you may have to add health insurance premiums to that stack of monthly bills as well.
In a revamped health care system envisioned by senators, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government would provide subsidies for the poor and many middle-class families, but those who still refuse to sign up would face fines of more than $1,000.
*snip*
In 2008, employer-provided coverage averaged $12,680 a year for a family plan, and $4,704 for individual coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's annual survey. Senate aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the cost of the federal plan would be lower but declined to provide specifics.
*snip*
At their heart, all the bills would require insurance companies to sell coverage to any applicant, without charging higher premiums for pre-existing medical conditions. The poor and some middle-class families would qualify for government subsidies to help with the cost of coverage. The government's costs would be covered by a combination of higher taxes and cuts in projected Medicare and Medicaid spending.

Link

No mention of taxing insurance benefits provided by employers, but I'm sure that is merely an oversight of the author.

Where have we seen something similar to that "pre-existing condition" cap on premiums?  Oh yeah, I know. Congress recently did something similar with credit card rates.  I guess the insurance companies will just charge higher rates to everyone to make up for not being able to charge for pre-existing conditions.
 

[Lacarnut]

I don't have a problem with paying more for my insurance. What I have a problem with is paying more and receiving less care in order for the poor/ lazy or the young that do not want it to gain coverage.

I fear that the government under a private and government insurance will eventually squeeze out the private sector and we will wind up with a single payer system. The Obama plan will reduce payments to Doctors and Hospitals which will create shortages of medical professionals in the future;it will also lead to less research of drugs and equipment causing stagnation in those entities. This moron is going to screw the 80 to 90 per cent that are happy with their present insurance to provide insurance to the minority that do not have any.

[thundley4]

We've already seen state run insurance ,(Massachussetts, Hawaii, and Washington state), collapse or nearly collapse under the weight of their own rules.  If they include a public option in this thing, then the private insurers will eventually be driven out of business, unless the public system collapses first.