Undoubtedly, Jon Bruning is celebrating what he deems a victory over health reform. Yesterday, a federal judge in Florida only allowed two major counts in a lawsuit against the federal government to move forward: the requirement that all Americans buy health care and the expansion of Medicaid.
Actually, we know he’s celebrating because he tweeted, “Great news, The federal judge in Florida has ruled that Nebraska and the other 19 states can continue fighting to overturn ObamaCare!” (Keep up the ridiculous branding, Bruning, because we’re not fooled.)
Of course, we’d recommend Bruning hold off on the house party. A federal judge in Michigan threw out a similar lawsuit last week. And before that, cases is Maryland and California were dismissed. One of the reasons this case is moving forward is because it was filed in Pensacola, one of Florida’s most conservative cities.
Bruning should have tweeted, “Great news: partisan positioning trumped unfettered justice!”
While we’re at it, here are some other tweets we’d suggest for Bruning:
“Great news: My fight to return to the days when insurance companies could rescind your coverage for pre-existing conditions is succeeding!”
“Holy Moley: A judge in FL is helping me ensure that kids with cancer can be dumped by their insurance providers!”
Or maybe, “Take that young adults! @JudgeVinson totes agrees w/ me that you can’t stay on your parents insurance while you look for a job!”
How about, “Thanks @JudgeVinson, this win agst #Obamacare will totally look good in my future campaign ads”
“Whew, kicking seniors to the curb down in FL sure wears me out. Looking forward to relaxing at the golf course this weekend.”
Sarcastic tweet suggestions aside, the individual requirement and expanded Medicaid are important parts to health reform. Let’s break it down, shall we?
The individual mandate is about individual responsibility. Unfortunately, health insurance is one of the last things most people think about… until they get sick. By then, it’s too late. So we all end up paying more for desperate emergency room visits. In fact, Bruning is essentially advocating for each of us to pay an additional $1,000 a year since that is what paying for uncompensated care costs us all.
We thought conservatives were all about individual responsibility. That is what the insurance mandate is all about. Nobody likes a free-rider. And we definitely do not like Bruning adding another $1,000 on our already strained family budgets.
You see, when only sick people are part of the system, costs sky rocket. We lower costs for the whole when everyone participates (not to mention the peace of mind everyone will have knowing they are covered). Health reform doesn’t work without the requirement because costs will continue to balloon which we can’t afford.
As for the Medicaid expansion being a burden on the states, the federal government’s picking up a vast majority of the costs (despite what Dave Heineman says). And what does it say about our government when we consider it an inconvenience to help those most in need? How can we say the American Dream is a possibility if we let the needy fall through the cracks?
Health reform is a good law that accomplishes the goals set out from the beginning–to ensure every Nebraskan has health insurance and to bring the overall costs of health care down to realistic levels. For Bruning to support a total repeal is a huge step back that throws tens of millions of Americans to the mercy of insurance companies whose priority is profit, not people. It’s also adding hundreds of thousands of debt to our already in-the-hole state budget.
That doesn’t sound like great news to us.
Check out our own Jane Kleeb on KHAS talking about this issue.
