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Adorable Puppy Explains Health Care Bill

2009-12-30 · John · watch on YouTube · US politics & society · news analysis

John answers questions put by his dog Willy about the US Senate health-care reform bill: what it does (insurance regulation, subsidized exchanges, about 30 million newly covered), pre-existing conditions, abortion, immigrants, taxes, the deficit, Ben Nelson's vote, and why the individual mandate is needed.

What is said

00:00:00 — Willy's questions: what the bill is (House and Senate bills; insurance regulation and subsidized exchange), job-based insurance, 30 million covered, pre-existing conditions and gender, abortion funding

  • ★★ John says there are actually two health-care reform bills, one passed by the House of Representatives and one by the Senate; he mostly discusses the Senate bill. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ John says the Senate bill regulates insurers, e.g. barring refusal of people with pre-existing conditions, and creates a nonprofit insurance exchange, federally subsidized, for the jobless, self-employed and small-business workers. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says that for people insured through their jobs nothing would change, except arguably their premiums. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ John says about 30 million Americans who are currently uninsured or underinsured would be covered under the bill. — 00:00:29 · United States
  • ★★★ John says that under the Senate bill, by 2014, insurers can no longer exclude people with pre-existing conditions or charge more by gender (women cost more to insure, he jokes, because childbirth is expensive). — 00:00:29
  • ★★ John says premiums for healthy, relatively young men like him might go up, though that may be offset by an overall decrease in health-care costs from the subsidized insurance pool. (hedged) — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ John says no federal money will go to funding abortions; the mechanics are too complicated for the video and are explained in the sidebar. — 00:00:58

00:01:41 — Illegal immigrants and emergency rooms; kids and staying on parents' insurance to about 27; taxes: Medicare tax, Cadillac plans, indoor tanning

  • ★★★ John says illegal immigrants already get health care in America because, as a rule, emergency rooms don't turn people away. — 00:01:41 · United States
  • ★★ John says covering more uninsured adults will also cover more uninsured children, and the bill will likely let people stay on their parents' insurance until about 27. (hedged) — 00:01:41
  • ★★★ John says the bill raises the Medicare tax by 0.9% on income over $200,000 a year, so someone making $300,000 pays about $1,000 more. — 00:02:10
  • ★★ John says the bill sharply raises the tax rate on 'Cadillac' health plans, which most health-care analysts think is good because it lowers the share of GDP spent on health care. — 00:02:10
  • ★★ John calls the bill's tax on indoor tanning a really good idea, since indoor tanners have a much higher chance of expensive melanoma; it is the same reason cigarettes are taxed. — 00:02:10

00:02:40 — National deficit and debt (CBO), Ben Nelson's vote, the individual mandate and why it is needed (car-insurance analogy)

  • ★★★ Citing the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, John says the bill will cut the national deficit; whether that cuts the debt depends on whether the money is spent elsewhere. — 00:02:40
  • ★★ John says Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson sold his vote, shown wearing an 'asshat'. (playful) — 00:02:40
  • ★★★ John says anyone eligible for insurance under the bill must get it or pay a penalty that will eventually be $750 per person per year. — 00:02:40
  • ★★★ John defends the mandate: most experts think reform won't work otherwise; like mandatory car insurance, the uninsured skip preventive care and their unpaid costs pass to everyone else. — 00:03:09

00:03:38 — Wrap-up, offer to answer more questions in comments, sign-off

  • ★ John says he will try to answer further questions about the bill in the comments. (hedged) — 00:03:38

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