Go ahead and laugh.

Enjoy your " victory " while it still seems like one.

Me?? I already have, between the state and the feds, over twenty seven percent of my < just under thirty thousand a year > income going to taxes.

I can barely afford to live as it is, and now the feds are going to MAKE me buy health insurance, which I would already HAVE if I could afford it.

If I don't get it, they want to put me in jail???

That's just brilliant.

Way to make my life " better ".

There's no way in heII, Hussein can house over 20% of the population in jail.

I didn't say it was the biggest cost, but you are lieing if you say it doesnt increase costs. If people ate healthier and exercised more they would be sick less often, that is a fact. American as a country is fat.

"•Percent of noninstitutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are overweight or obese: 67% (2005-2006)
•Percent of noninstitutionalized adults age 20 years and over who are obese: 34% (2005-2006)
•Percent of adolescents age 12-19 years who are overweight: 18% (2005-2006)
•Percent of children age 6-11 years who are overweight: 15% (2005-2006)
•Percent of children age 2-5 years who are overweight: 11% (2005-2006)"
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm

67% overweight or obese. that is over 2/3 of adults. Lets get in shape america jeeze.

Did I say that it didn't add any cost???

No. I pointed out that smoking and alcohol, along with people near the end of life < be it elderly folks or people who have been in accidents > add much MORE cost comparatively.

By the way...there is a BIG difference between " overweight " and " obese ".

A Another by the way....that BMI stat that people like to throw around is, in a lot of cases, absolute garbage because it doesn't, in any way, take into account your body type.

Sorry for your predicament, but under this bill you will recieve help.
Both houses agree on financial help for people having trouble affording coverage: They both would provide aid to families earning up to about $88,000 per year.

Not Jail!
Fine.

Don't you understand how much of the cost of the health-care system is currently due to uninsured and unpaid medical care?

A lot of the cost today is due to undiagnosed medical problems. The uninsured waiting until the problem is so bad to see a Dr. that the treatment is extreme and costlier.
If they were insured they would be more willing to seek medical attention earlier when the problem might be fixed with a less costly treatment. Often merely with medication.

And, since the House version imposes a 5.4 percent surcharge on individuals with adjusted gross incomes of more than $500,000 and couples making more than $1 million .

The Senate version includes a 40 percent excise tax on more expensive insurance policies and a 0.9 percentage point increase in the 1.45 percent Medicare tax for individuals with wages of more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000 .

This shouldn't affect you!

Yes, Fanta. I DO understand.

But forcing me to buy something, with the threat of fines OR jail < and yes, the jail time is still in there > time for failing to do so isn't something that gives me the warm and fuzzies about the people in charge.

As far as getting " help "...taking another one or two percent of my income isn't a whole lot of " help ".

I already have to work for a quarter of the year JUST to pay taxes. Until that point, I work for nothing but the government.

A lot of the cost today is due to undiagnosed medical problems. The uninsured waiting until the problem is so bad to see a Dr. that the treatment is extreme and costlier.
If they were insured they would be more willing to seek medical attention earlier when the problem might be fixed with a less costly treatment. Often merely with medication.

And, since the House version imposes a 5.4 percent surcharge on individuals with adjusted gross incomes of more than $500,000 and couples making more than $1 million .

The Senate version includes a 40 percent excise tax on more expensive insurance policies and a 0.9 percentage point increase in the 1.45 percent Medicare tax for individuals with wages of more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000 .

This shouldn't affect you!

Who mentioned BMI? And the percentage of obese in America is larger than overweight. The obese is 34% while 33% are overweight. So 1/3 of americans are obese.

The BMI is what they almost always use to determine who is " overweight ".

The Democrats are really taking a big gamble on their reputation which is already taking a beating lately.If things go wrong this could be end of the Democrats in power for a very long time.The Democrats tactics of shutting the public and Republicans out of the meetings is something I would have expected from a Communist country.This bill should have a public vote.It is one of the biggest and most costly bills ever written.The public should have a voice in the matter.

You need to quit reading all those Republican blogs.
They are full of misinformation and propaganda!

Where is the transparency Obama was talking about?Where is the cameras in the debating rooms?Passing bills at 1am in the morning.Million dollar bribes to Senators.This is government corruption at it's worst.I don't think the Democrats give two craps about health care.This is about power,domination,control and a massive tax increase.

Well,
Without the Republican's unanimous obstruction the deals wouldn't have been necessary. If they had instead practiced individuality within their party and joined in the negotiations 60 votes could have been attained in a bi-partisan manner.

The Republicans are as much to blame as anyone. The bill was important to America! They should quit their crying and figure out how they are going to explain their lies and unfounded claims. Because, when the bill proves to be good for Americaans they will have zero credit to claim.

How can you say this bill is good for America when you don't have the slightest idea what is written in it?Only one person has read the whole bill out of all those Senators.Probably less than 1% of the American population even knows about this bill at all.

This is also the first time in our countries history where our Goverment is forcing us to buy something that has nothing to do with the Federal Government.Health insurance.We are all going to have to pay for it or get a massive fine and probably jail.This is dangerous thinking and sounds like the begining of a Dictatorship to me.The seeds of Communism are being planted by Obama!

I am actually waiting for the first challenge to this soon to be law.

I think it's entirely possible that we are going to find out that making it mandatory that they buy health insurance very well could be found unconstitutional.

Hmmm, too tired to comment.

See you tomorrow brother.

Have a good night, Fanta.

Some bmi things do take it into consideration. Especially when they use the clips to determine body fat. Even so, lets say that 50% of those overweight are not so (that is being very generous) that still makes about 16-17%+ 34% obese so 50-51% overweight or obese. No matter how you look at it, america as a whole is fat. Why are you so defensive on this issue? I see nothing wrong with the idea of Americans moving to change this fact.