Even Poor People Can Count

While I obviously haven't read the Congressional health-care plan in its entirety, there is at least one part of the plan that I can say with confidence is stupid. It involves the individual mandate. For those of you who haven't read it, certain folks (families of four, $88,000 and up) who fail to obtain a qualifying health plan ("qualifying" to be determined later) will have to pay an annual tax penalty of up to $750 per adult/$375 per child, the maximum penalty being $2,250 per family. The problem? The problem is that, while $2,250 is in fact a lot of money, it's still significantly less than what a family health plan would cost. And, yes, being that the plan also contains a provision that does away with preexisting clauses, my fear is that people will simply pay the penalty and only purchase health insurance when they have to (i.e., when they end up getting sick). The logical end result (or at least the worst case scenario) is that only sick people will purchase insurance. Talk about an absolute way to bankrupt the system. This little stipulation just might do it, folks...........................................................................................P.S. As for that 5% tax on plastic surgery surgeries - that one's just flat-out funny. More than a little creative, too, don't you think?