Tagged: ComicMix

So after more than 100 years, the House passed a health
care reform bill. As of this writing, our president is going to sign the thing
into law tomorrow and then the Senate has to affirm some changes.

And then every paranoid, fear-filled right-winger who
doesn’t know the difference between a communist, a socialist, and a Nazi will
moan about the world coming to an end. Republicans don’t like the word
“democrat,” and in their world a majority doesn’t rule the day, so court
challenges will abound.

Since ComicMix
is a comics-oriented website, it might be a good idea to address how all this
affects the comics world. But in order to do that, I’ve got to try to explain what’s
going on.

A lot of the good stuff doesn’t kick in until 2014, but
there’s a lot of good stuff that starts this year. No more pre-existing
condition exclusions, and a special program will help adults with pre-existing
conditions get coverage until the full program kicks in. No more getting
dropped by your insurer when you get sick. No more lifetime coverage limits.
The annual cap dwindles and is eliminated entirely in 2014. Kids can stay on
their parents’ insurance until they’re 26. That’s only fair, since they’re
living in the basement anyway. Small businesses will get tax credits of up to
50 percent of premium costs.

For the 65+ crowd, they’ll get $250 towards closing the
“donut hole” in their prescription drug coverage (right now, seniors have to cover
everything between $2,700.01 and $6,200), and Medicare’s preventive benefits
now come with a free visit with your primary care doctor every year.

Mind you I’m not totally thrilled with this bill, but I
agree with Congressman Denis Kusinich: it’s a lot better than nothing, and it’s
a good start. Sadly, a lot of people will die between 2010 and 2014. And it
will make the insurance companies all the more wealthy because everybody will
have to have private care insurance. Yeah, I know, there’s supposed to be a
safety net but it’s based upon family income and not family situation: if
you’re making a living today but have incurred massive debt due to previous
health costs, you’re still screwed. I’m not crazy about any law that forces
everybody to give money to big business whether they want to or not, but I’ve
long felt that same way about our seat belt laws. People should have the
freedom to do what isn’t necessarily best for them, as long as it doesn’t
affect others.

Getting back to goring the ox of fabled Comicsdom…

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