The Glade 4.0

By the way, the rumors circulating are that CJ Roberts will author the main opinion and Ginsburg the dissent. If that's true Obamacare is ****. If it's just true that Roberts is writing the main opinion I think it could still go either way.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Well, it should be noted at the outset that the mandate isn't necessarily inseverable. Contrary to most legislation these days, the Act didn't contain an explicit severability clause, but there's no explicit non-severability clause either. The rule of construction the Court has traditionally followed is to presume severability and strike down as little of an act/statute as possible while still maintaining the overall intent of Congress. The Administration is arguing that the lack of an explicit severability clause, coupled with the unsustainability of the remainder of the Act without the mandate, trumps that traditional rule of construction and requires the Court to make an all-or-nothing ruling. At least one of the lower courts has reached that conclusion as well, but other courts have disagreed, and it's not clear which way the Supreme Court will go. Personally, I think they'll hold that acts/statutes are severable unless Congress includes explicit language to the contrary and that the mandate can therefore be struck down without invalidating the whole Act, but I'm just guessing.

As for why the Administration is pushing for non-severability, I suspect it's for three reasons: (1) an "all-in" legal strategy hoping the Court won't call; (2) political necessity in order to get the insurance companies to back off when the bill was being considered; and (3) they honestly believe (correctly, in my view) that absent the individual mandate, the free-rider problems would render the rest of the Act unsustainable.

what about trauma/heart attack patients. Do we have to secure their payment information before we treat them?

I think there is still a time and place for limited true emergent care. The snifflers can b given the boot though

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

what if we look at this from a communicable disease/national security point of view.

The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 killed between 50 and 120 million people worldwide.

Communicable diseases untreated in the population or even a small segment of it, pose a risk to the whole.

Not everything is an epidemic. We have a CDC to deal with such things as well.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Except the people that dislike Obamacare also tend to dislike the idea of the CDC as well.

Remember a few years ago when the CDC detained that guy with XDR-TB because he wasn't taking his meds? The conservatives were all up in arms about the government violating our freedoms, you can't PROVE that he'll make anyone else sick, you have no right to do this, etc.

Back in the day there were plenty of hospitals that were charity or sponsored funds for other hospitals to offer care to those who could not pay.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

I don't think that's what he's talking about. I believe he means denying coverage to someone who is unidentifiable because they are in the middle of major medical trauma.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Yeah that. You can be presented with a bill after we save your life and figure out who you are.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Always carry your ID on you so you are identifiable.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

That isn't practical. Think of all the times in a 24 hour cycle that your I'd isn't physically on your person. Sleeping, exercizing, ect. Nevermind those times that you accidentally forget your license. Nevermind the notion that you've created a legislative mandate. Your solution is unacceptable.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

The only time I can think of that my ID isn't within three steps of me is when I'm sleeping or in the shower.

If I leave my house it's on my person.. always.

I've left mine at home, in my car, at the office... And none of that mitigates the fact that I spend $12,000/yr. On medical. I pay for a service, and don't expect to be denied care because I happen to be hit by a car when I'm out for a jog.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I have to agree with Midgen...my ID is always with me or nearby. I even wear a Medic Alert bracelet with my allergies listed and a phone number so emergency workers can find out what meds I'm on, if needed. My hubby and I pay $600.00 a month for our medical coverage (which will change when he hits age 65 in a couple years) plus a $15.00 copay and prescriptions on top of that. I think we pay more than enough for our medical, we don't need or want any federally mandated crap health insurance coverage!

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

I don't care if you agree with Midgen. If I am suffering major medical trauma I don't want anyone wasting time verifying my billable information before rendering the life saving care I've already paid for.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I'm talking about situations where a few minutes make the difference. A very small part of the total health care costs. Basically I would want to scale back the existing EMTLA but not eliminate it.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Ok simply have as part of being insured the issuance of a medical id bracelet or chain such as dogtags. Note that coverage may be delayed or at increased cost if emergency services are rendered without it.

Easily covered in a contract - the costs of treating emergency deliveries like this can be assumed by the charges to those who show up and are covered but without ID. This would make it such a stiff penalty that most would assure their ID to be present. Also a quick biometric (eye and fignerprints) could be taken, insurance servers queried and id established on the way to the hospital as a matter of procedure.

Tons of market solutions to this problem - there are two.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Wait... are you advocating a national database with our biometric data??????

So your solution is a massive centralized database?

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Not me. I'm trying to determine if thats what Elmo is suggesting

I was addressing Elmo. Sorry if there was confusion.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Well Elmo did say he hasn't had insurance for 5 months. So I guess it is more or less flipping the bird to those of us who do?

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I don't think so. He hasn't utilized any free care.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Why would it have to be nationalized?

Its part of a contract with your insurance company which would record biometric data when you go in for drug tests or health screening.

No government involved at all. Yes I am suggesting a database, much like those that already exist for every company about every client and employee except with two new searchable indexes regarding fingerprint and eyescan. The horror.

I am sure if there was enough pressure against this then companies would come up with alternate ways to treat their patients who happened to not have ID on them at the time of their need.

If you have a security clearance for a company its not like they aren't already collection biometric data. No one has had to be fingerprinted for clearance before?

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

I haven't had insurance for years. I haven't used any free care either. When I had insurance for four years, I used it once to go to urgent care. I had a 35 dollar co-pay and a free antibiotic from a local pharmacy.

When I burned my foot, I sucked it up and didnt go the ER on the public dime, but I still think that should be there. If fixing someone's computer would save their life and they came into my office, I'd help them first then discuss payment.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"