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Filed: Country: Philippines
Timeline
Posted

Reporting from Washington— Mary Brown, a 56-year-old Florida woman who owned a small auto repair shop but had no health insurance, became the lead plaintiff challenging President Obama's healthcare law because she was passionate about the issue.

Brown "doesn't have insurance. She doesn't want to pay for it. And she doesn't want the government to tell her she has to have it," said Karen Harned, a lawyer for the National Federation of Independent Business. Brown is a plaintiff in the federation's case, which the Supreme Court plans to hear later this month.

But court records reveal that Brown and her husband filed for bankruptcy last fall with $4,500 in unpaid medical bills. Those bills could change Brown from a symbol of proud independence into an example of exactly the problem the healthcare law was intended to address.

The central issue before the Supreme Court is whether the government can require people to buy health insurance. Under the law, those who fail to buy insurance after 2014 could face a fine of up to $700.

The business federation, along with other critics of the law, calls the insurance mandate a "threat to individual liberty" that violates the Constitution.

Obama administration lawyers argue that the requirement is justified because everyone, sooner or later, needs healthcare. Those who fail to have insurance are at high risk of running up bills they cannot pay, sticking the rest of society with the cost, they argue. Brown's situation, they say, is a perfect example of exactly that kind of "uncompensated care that will ultimately be paid by others."

"This is so ironic," Jane Perkins, a health law expert in North Carolina, said of Brown's situation. "It just shows that all Americans inevitably have a need for healthcare. Somebody has paid for her healthcare costs. And she is now among the 62% whose personal bankruptcy was attributable in part to medical bills."

Lawyers who represent Brown dispute the significance of her bankruptcy. They say her unpaid medical bills were only a small part of her debts and did not cause her bankruptcy. They say that she and her husband owe $55,000 to others, including credit card companies. And they say her financial troubles were caused by the failure of her auto repair shop.

Brown, reached by telephone Thursday, said the medical bills were her husband's. "I always paid my bills, as well as my medical bills," she said angrily. "I never said medical insurance is not a necessity. It should be anyone's right to what kind of health insurance they have.

"I believe that anyone has unforeseen things that happen to them that are beyond their control," Brown said. "Who says I don't have insurance right now?"

Brown's problems are not likely to affect the outcome in the high court. In January, the business group told the court it had found two new plaintiffs who could take Brown's place. But Brown played a crucial role in the case reaching the Supreme Court.

"There was time pressure" to find a plaintiff for the case, Harned said. "And candidly, it is not as easy as it sounds" to find someone. She recalls that Brown was outspoken and stepped forward as a volunteer. The lawyers found a second plaintiff in Kaj Ahlburg, a retired New York investment banker living in Port Angeles, Wash.

But when U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson declared the mandate unconstitutional in January 2011, he pointed to Mary Brown's complaint. "She is a small-business owner" who "does not believe the cost of health insurance is a wise or acceptable use of her resources," he said.

In August, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta agreed. Florida and 25 other states were suing, but they needed an individual to contest the mandate. "Mary Brown has standing to challenge the individual mandate," the judges said, and "as long as at least one plaintiff has standing to raise" the claim, the court can rule. The Obama administration appealed, and the Supreme Court said in November it would decide the constitutional challenge.

But by then, Brown's small auto repair shop near Panama City, Fla., had closed, and she and her husband had filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. Brown said in the petition that her only income was $275 a month in unemployment benefits.

Her bankruptcy came to light in December, when a Wall Street Journal reporter interviewed her about her role in the historic case. In a video interview, Brown said freedom from government was the issue. "I'm not fighting just for me," she said. "It's my choice to have healthcare, not theirs."

Shortly afterward, lawyers for the National Federation of Independent Business informed the court of Brown's troubles, and sent along a copy of her bankruptcy filing.

The couple owed $2,140 to Bay Medical Center in Panama City, $610 to Bay Medical Physicians, $835 to an eye doctor in Alabama and $900 to a specialist in Mississippi.

"This is a very common problem. We cover $30 million in charity and uncompensated care every year," said Christa Hild, a spokeswoman for the hospital center. "If it's a bad debt, we have to absorb it."

The business group's lawyers say they weren't backing away from their bankrupt plaintiff. "She wants to continue in the case. And as long as she doesn't want healthcare, she qualifies as a plaintiff in our mind," Harned said.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-na-healthcare-plaintiff-20120309,0,6657163.story

Posted

Deadbeats and freeloaders. ** 'em!

She always pays 'her' bills! Her husband is the deadbeat! Ummm...

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Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

The mandate is a joke, just as the rest of the bill is.

It will be struck down, and if by chance it's not, then we're in for a world of hurt because the power of this government is limitless.

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Filed: Other Country: Afghanistan
Timeline
Posted

The mandate is a joke, just as the rest of the bill is.

It will be struck down, and if by chance it's not, then we're in for a world of hurt because the power of this government is limitless.

How so?

Years ago the government basically said we have a right to the ER whether we can pay or not. Now they've placed a mandate with that right.

I've heard the analogy, oh well they can make us buy a TV next. Well they'd first need to make it a right that all Americans have access to TVs whether they can pay or not. IE I can march into best buy and walk out with a TV no cash or credit down. Not going to happen.

Filed: Country: Philippines
Timeline
Posted (edited)

Years ago the government basically said we have a right to the ER whether we can pay or not. Now they've placed a mandate with that right.

I've been working in the ICU now for a couple of months and it's astounding to see firsthand, the number of people who need critical care but don't have any insurance and no means to pay. The aggressive care given to them is constant and relentless. If some homeless drunkard walks into the path of an oncoming car and survives, he could spend a month or longer in intensive care, and typically that person will have underlying health issues unrelated to the accident but which the hospital is required by law to treat. So if he has cirrhosis of the liver, they'll treat it. I would imagine a month in the ICU could easily run close to a million dollars and sadly, there are a lot of patients that need that level of care who don't have insurance.

Edited by Mister Fancypants
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Ukraine
Timeline
Posted

So she does no tpay for insurance OR medical bills. What do you expect. But I thought that you want to cover everyone's medical bills, yet 47% of Americans pay no income tax so how are they NOT deadbeats and freeloaders also?

The opiton to get medical treatment and then file bankruptcy exists for everyone already. So much for saying the uninsured have no medical care.

VERMONT! I Reject Your Reality...and Substitute My Own!

Gary And Alla

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Isle of Man
Timeline
Posted

The mandate is a joke, just as the rest of the bill is.

It will be struck down, and if by chance it's not, then we're in for a world of hurt because the power of this government is limitless.

How do you feel about government mandated car insurance? It is absolutely useless in Michigan....The "no fault" insurance I have will not cover a dime if I get into an accident, regardless of whether it is my fault or not.

When you go to Secretary of State, you CANNOT get registration and a proper license plate unless you buy government mandated health insurance for your car....The government is forcing us to buy health insurance for our cars at an avg. rate of about $125 to $150 a month.

Where is the outrage?

India, gun buyback and steamroll.

qVVjt.jpg?3qVHRo.jpg?1

Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

How do you feel about government mandated car insurance? It is absolutely useless in Michigan....The "no fault" insurance I have will not cover a dime if I get into an accident, regardless of whether it is my fault or not.

When you go to Secretary of State, you CANNOT get registration and a proper license plate unless you buy government mandated health insurance for your car....The government is forcing us to buy health insurance for our cars at an avg. rate of about $125 to $150 a month.

Where is the outrage?

you choose to drive.

so are you saying you choose to breathe? The government can mandate that?

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Isle of Man
Timeline
Posted (edited)

you choose to drive.

so are you saying you choose to breathe? The government can mandate that?

I'm saying car health insurance is pointless (unless you have full coverage which is still pointless when you drive a car that is worth less than $5000)....That's why on my wife's $4000 Jeep Liberty I cancelled her insurance! As long as she doesn't get into an accident where someone is hospitalized we are good to go! good.gifAlready saved well over $600 in the last 6 months....

What is the percent of people that drive uninsured??? Probably a much lower rate than in healthcare where 1 out of 6 Americans do not have coverage (+50 million).

What we are saying is it is more important to get our cars health insured than the people that drive them. wacko.gif

Edited by ☠

India, gun buyback and steamroll.

qVVjt.jpg?3qVHRo.jpg?1

Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

I'm saying car health insurance is pointless (unless you have full coverage which is still pointless when you drive a car that is worth less than $5000)....That's why on my wife's $4000 Jeep Liberty I cancelled her insurance! As long as she doesn't get into an accident where someone is hospitalized we are good to go! good.gifAlready saved well over $600 in the last 6 months....

What is the percent of people that drive uninsured??? Probably a much lower rate than in healthcare where 1 out of 6 Americans do not have coverage (+50 million).

What we are saying is it is more important to get our cars health insured than the people that drive them. wacko.gif

25% of all drivers are uninsured the last time I checked.

Liability insurance is cheap though... $30-$45 a month if you're over the age of 25... Comparing something that's astronomical as Health Insurance to auto-insurance is absurd... It'd cheaper to pay the "fine" lol... The unconstitutional citizen breathing fine...

nfrsig.jpg

The Great Canadian to Texas Transfer Timeline:

2/22/2010 - I-129F Packet Mailed

2/24/2010 - Packet Delivered to VSC

2/26/2010 - VSC Cashed Filing Fee

3/04/2010 - NOA1 Received!

8/14/2010 - Touched!

10/04/2010 - NOA2 Received!

10/25/2010 - Packet 3 Received!

02/07/2011 - Medical!

03/15/2011 - Interview in Montreal! - Approved!!!

Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Isle of Man
Timeline
Posted

25% of all drivers are uninsured the last time I checked.

Liability insurance is cheap though... $30-$45 a month if you're over the age of 25... Comparing something that's astronomical as Health Insurance to auto-insurance is absurd... It'd cheaper to pay the "fine" lol... The unconstitutional citizen breathing fine...

My health insurance just went up. It's $75 a month.

India, gun buyback and steamroll.

qVVjt.jpg?3qVHRo.jpg?1

Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Canada
Timeline
Posted

My health insurance just went up. It's $75 a month.

employer subsidized no doubt.

nfrsig.jpg

The Great Canadian to Texas Transfer Timeline:

2/22/2010 - I-129F Packet Mailed

2/24/2010 - Packet Delivered to VSC

2/26/2010 - VSC Cashed Filing Fee

3/04/2010 - NOA1 Received!

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10/04/2010 - NOA2 Received!

10/25/2010 - Packet 3 Received!

02/07/2011 - Medical!

03/15/2011 - Interview in Montreal! - Approved!!!

Country: Vietnam
Timeline
Posted

I've been working in the ICU now for a couple of months and it's astounding to see firsthand, the number of people who need critical care but don't have any insurance and no means to pay. The aggressive care given to them is constant and relentless. If some homeless drunkard walks into the path of an oncoming car and survives, he could spend a month or longer in intensive care, and typically that person will have underlying health issues unrelated to the accident but which the hospital is required by law to treat. So if he has cirrhosis of the liver, they'll treat it. I would imagine a month in the ICU could easily run close to a million dollars and sadly, there are a lot of patients that need that level of care who don't have insurance.

And that is why our costs are so high here compared to other countries. That is no reason for the Government to force everyone to buy by law. It is unconstitutional. Want Socialized health care then change the constitution.

 

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