Hobby Lobby

[gsh]

Am I the only one who things the uproar about the Hobby Lobby case is overblown? It seems that Kennedy is basically holding up a neon sign saying "apply the same let the insurance company pay for the cost of womens contraception compromize" that fully religious organizations have. I mean Obama can direct HHS to do that in a week, and then the women get full coverage for the items in conflict with no addtional burden. Or is it that I've actually read the 90 page opinion, and haven';t been paying attention to the yammering in the news?

Comments

[reedrover]

The Affordable Care Act was a step toward divorcing health care from employment, but it still has the split payment setup. Medicare and Medicaid are also methods to decouple medicine from work. However, even with those entitlement programs, I don't think that socialized medicine is going to exist for real in the US for a while yet. And no, I don't know how it would happen, either.

I brought up the Supreme Court decision at dinner with a friend last night. She and I both went the "corporations are individuals, hunh" route in the conversation. We agreed that this is an interesting precedent, but didn't come to any conclusions.

[gsh]

I personally don't think the use of the term socialized medicine is a helpful term to use, but think that a move to universal coverage would be helpful.

[sihaya09.livejournal.com]

Agreed!

[reedrover]

What I would love to see is a baseline health system that covers all general health care for everyone. I'm talking check ups/ screenings/ vaccinations / dental cleanings. That would be a HUGE first step in establishing a minimum care standard.

After that, then we can talk about speciality care, and if that should still be handled by an insurance system or direct payer or... something else (I don't know what).