|
|
Universal
Healthcare for the Uninsured
January 10, 2008 |
|
Wouldn’t you just love to own a restaurant in the beauty of Northern California? Well, maybe not. The city of San Francisco, better known as the People’s Socialist Republic of San Francisco, has struck again at the very foundation that built this country, American business. The city recently passed a law mandating that 73,000 uninsured adults will be provided care at a network of hospitals and clinics for those individuals who are not covered by two other very expensive and wasteful government programs, Medi-Cal and Medicare. The ordinance provides coverage for those employees – some of them non-residents – either in the city plan or in a new health plan offered by their employers. Who Will Pay the Bill? Most of the estimated cost is to be covered by state and local taxes and from patients based on their income level (more socialism for America). Who will foot the balance of the bill? Why small and often struggling businesses, that’s who! The balance of the cost would come from fees paid by employers who don’t offer insurance. The law requires large and medium-size companies to offer insurance to their employees or pay a fee to the city to cover the cost of their coverage. The law was challenged by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which represents more than 900 Bay Area establishments. They challenged the provision that requires private employers with at least 20 employees and nonprofits with at least 50, to provide coverage at dollar amounts set by the city (a frightening prospect in itself) or to pay a fee to cover the city’s cost of care for their uninsured employees. The Restaurant Association has proposed a ¼ percent increase in the local sales tax to replace employer fees as the source of the health care funding. But why make all citizens bear the burden when American business can be the scapegoat, again? Where’s the socialist logic in accepting a meaningful alternative? A restaurant owner said he and other restaurant owners would have to lay off employees and raise prices to comply with the ordinance. The next time you visit San Francisco, check the detail of the bill for your meal. By the time the city is done with taxation, can you just imagine $9.95 for the meal and $12.95 in local and state taxes? Tourists will stampede out of town as quick as a speeding bullet. U. S. District Judge Jeffrey White ruled that the provision violated a 1974 law that prohibits state and local governments from regulating employee benefit plans. But the U. S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, an infamous collection of communists with a history of bizarre and dangerous rulings, overruled the judge, saying that under the law a city is free to protect it’s residents health and welfare as long as it does not require an employer to adopt a particular health plan, or alter an existing plan to provide additional benefits. They offered the city an emergency stay of White’s ruling because the city had a strong argument and because of consequences for people who cannot get health coverage. Judge William Fletcher was actually quoted as saying, “Otherwise avoidable human suffering, illness and possibly death will result if a stay is denied.” Danger to the Taxpayers The most dangerous part of this ruling is the California legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger are considering a state health care law, not dissimilar to the San Francisco ordinance. It is likely now with this precedence that any new law they pass will withstand any legal challenges. The socialist ground rules are in place in California (and Massachusetts as well) - so be aware - coming to your state – a very costly socialist health care bill taking more of your hard-earned money to support many people who don’t like to work and illegal immigrants, where in addition to your exponentially increasing local, state and federal taxes, private insurance for an entrepreneur with a family of four can run $4,000 per month. And when the city of San Francisco finds out that they grossly underestimated the amount of money it will take to care for those 73,000+ uninsured (plus the people who will give up their health plan to get free health care), the fees will continue to escalate to the level of the huge bite Social(ist) Security takes out of your paycheck now. |
