You bet. Worse, I was drafted originally for the Viet Nam war but (stupidly) decided to stay and maximize my education. I re-enlisted in 1973 for 6 years and was promised free health care for life during which time I completed my BS. I got out to obtain my MS and did ROTC simultaneous to being in the National Guard into which I was commissioned as a helicopter pilot. I was recalled into the Army in 1984 as a microbiologist and got my PhD while on active duty and spent the rest of my career doing nasty things. After a long stressful career I retired and now live in Hungary. Free heath care had by then disappeared and now we have Tricare. We are now only eligible for Tricare overseas and they are rapidly changing the amount of deductibles and cost shares that the military will cover. At the moment we have a $150 a yer per individual ($300 for family) after which they cover 75% of "allowable" costs. It is an okay benefit although we must pay cash then submit a claim and eventually get it processed. That system was very damaged but is now more or less functional. They used to have a 400% error rate in claims but now it has dropped to "only" 100% errors. I spend quite a bit of time dealing with this. So, now we are nearing the Medicare time (at least my wife is as she turns 65 next year, I am only 59 so it is a ways off). The military has implemented "Tricare for Life" which mandates that we must use Medicare as the major provider BUT we must pay Part B out of pocket. Now here is the clincher. To stay enrolled in Tricare Overseas we must pay for Part B even though we can never use Medicare outside the United States. So, I am mandated to pay for services I cannot ever use and what I was promised I would never have to pay for. I get more cynical every day. Luckily, health care here in Hungary is excellent and very cheap as they don't get the concept of health care as a business (thank god!!!!).
I suspect what MichaelB is warning about is the fact this thread keeps drifting back fom "How will the Supremes rule on the ACA?" to "Let's debate the interpretation of the Constitution", which cannot be done in isolation of the current political divide. Since it appears difficult to do one without the other, and debating politics is off limits, I doubt this thread will last much longer.
But, if you don't pay for your trash pickup, it doesn't impact me. Today, if you don't have health insurance and get injured and can't pay the $200K for MRIs, surgery, hospital stay, etc, then I and everyone else get the bill (through cost shifting to our private insurance or through higher taxes.) That's the case the government is making: The costs of treating the uninsured are already being paid by others, they want to codify it.
As I recall, Plan B was what the Senate had already passed when its version of the bill had 60 votes. It was yet to be reconciled with the House version when the Senate lost its 60th vote for the bill so the House held its nose and passed the Senate bill as is. The law, then, really wasn't a "finished product". It was forced through like a "shotgun marriage" because there was no way the differences could have been reconciled in conference at that point.
I am so very sorry for your confusion. This happens when one posts in a rush. Still, REW did get it and managed to correctly convey my intention.
Options are so limited its not clear what most people could do. People with coverage look to make sure they keep it.
