Oddly, the Rat-bastard insurance companies may be our ally in the SCOTUS ruling.

[SoCalDem]

Here's' why:

More and more "jobs" come with little or no company "help" on ever-escalating costs of insuring employees

There is NO shortage of qualified employees. They already have the "pick of the litter" when it comes to hiring.

BOOMERS are retiring right and left and sliding into Medicare, and OFF the rolls of insurance they were tied to for a lifetime of work.

"New jobs" are paying less and employees can no longer afford to buy insurance, so why not just "freeload" when sick or injured?

People who have already lost all or most of what they had, when the Bubble burst as GW slid out of office, have nothing else to lose. Drop in for care when needed, then just buy a new cell phone with a new number..

Medical bankruptcies are nothing new, and I foresee them growing.

How can Insurance CEOs continue to pillage as their "customer base" shrinks?

The workforce coming along behind the Boomer Generation is going to be less affluent, and have less job security and probably a LOT less buying power.

The AFA and its mandate was what was needed for them to remain profitable for a long time to come.

Kill the law or strip the mandate, and within not all that many years, there will be an ever-shrinking customer base for them.

Every time they raise rates, more people drop off from non-affordability.

Employers may just rise up and stop ALL health insurance benefits for employees. Who buys the insurance then?

Individuals cannot afford care at the rates they now charge.

Ever since "managed care" has been in existence, we Boomers have been their main customers, and now we are gladly leaving them in our rear view mirror.

[Lint Head]

1. As long as there are insurance companies profiting

from sickness they will still be involved. Health insurance companies are nothing more than banks that handle money. They do not provide health care and only care about profit. The ACA is a cash cow for insurance corporations.

[SoCalDem]

2. and that is why SCOTUS may say it's okeedokie

SCOTUS knows how much money insurance companies pour into advocacy groups and how eagerly they support right wing candidates.

[ProSense]

3. Have you

"Kill the law or strip the mandate, and within not all that many years, there will be an ever-shrinking customer base for them."

...ever heard of Medigap: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002500237

A Medigap policy is health insurance sold by private insurance companies to fill the "gaps" in Original Medicare Plan coverage. Medigap policies help pay some of the health care costs that the Original Medicare Plan doesn't cover. If you are in the Original Medicare Plan and have a Medigap policy, then Medicare and your Medigap policy will each pay its share of covered health care costs.

http://www.cms.gov/Medigap/

Also, kill the law and millions of low-income Americans will no longer be eligible for Medicaid: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002496395

Kill it and the ban on dropping people because of pre-existing conditions is also killed.

Kill it and women lose out: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002497407

[SoCalDem]

5. That is precisely my argument for why I think they will uphold it.

There will be too big of a hit on insurance companies.

Medigap is for the 20% not covered by medicare, so of course they cannot charge as much in premiums, and since many times by the time a senior gets into serious medical need, it's for an acute illness that ends up ending that life (and the need for further coverage).

Parents who are protecting their families are the ones insurance companies target, since they have that customer for a few decades....but if the bosses no longer offer coverage, or the customer just cannot afford it, they have no customer base left...or a shrinking one at best.

[riderinthestorm]

4. Employers are already dropping health insurance for their employees

snip

The survey finds over the last decade, premiums for employer-provided health insurance have jumped by 153 percent. The proportion of companies that offer coverage has fallen by more than 13 percent in the last two years alone.

The California Association of Health Plans maintains insurer profits are not to blame for the rise in premiums. But Doug Heller, with the non-profit group Consumer Watchdog, disagrees.

"That money's goin' somewhere, and you and I and everybody knows it's not stickin' in our pockets, it's goin' right to their bank accounts," Heller argued. "Their premiums have gone up five times faster than inflation. It doesn't make sense, and it's gotta stop."

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jan/05/rising-health-insurance-premiums-causing-more-empl/