I have been solidly-insured for most of my adult life, except during those fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants college years when we are all truly invincible. As I grew into adulthood and assumed responsibility for my life, health insurance was one of the perks that came with my college degree and career. I never viewed regular check-ups, medications, and specialty medicine as my right simply for existing in America. If I were uninsured, I could of course go to a doctor for a sore knee, but would pay said doctor using my own funds. After all, it was my showboating that resulted in the moped wreck in the first place, and I wouldn’t expect the onlookers to pay my medical bills. I certainly knew that a visit to the ER would result in an exorbitant bill which I must pay if I were uninsured, just as an auto accident without insurance will cost an arm and a leg if not both. I thus avoided activities like drunk parasailing, inhalant usage, recreational eating, junkie orgies, etc. These days, maybe obamacare will free Americans from the restrictive, cruel shackles of preventative care such as working out regularly, eating sensibly, and paying heed to the skull and cross-crutches in the jackass disclaimer.

  Regarding the computer debacle that has plagued the Obamacare rollout, it should come as no surprise that the Canadian company (ahem) awarded the multi-million dollar tech contract came complete with sloppy glitches that have prevented users from obtaining health insurance. The first “glitch” becomes apparent when the user receives an erroneous quote for insurance. This is the type of “glitch” that corporations use to lure in and trap gullible consumer slaves. It is called the “bait and switch” fallacy wherein a company uses the “carrot” of the lowest-priced product to seduce the buyer into spending more money.

“Upselling” is so common that it is deeply embedded in most software programs for online purchases, and the obamacare site is no different, although the new online sucker is the U.S. taxpayer. One of its many problems is that those shopping for health insurance plans are not asked their exact age until the end of the process. The two age categories from which they may “select” are 18-49 and over 50. Obviously, the cheaper policies for the 18-49 age group become more expensive when the consumer announces that she is a 49-year-old obese chainsmoker in her big “reveal,” thus jacking up the $274 monthly insurance fee to $590. The consumer, coughing and inhaling powdered doughnuts, soon realizes she has now wasted hours of her time as surely as she has wasted a quarter of her paycheck on Powerball tickets. She cannot afford any of the plans, and will now be eligible for a subsidy.

Obamacare will turn out to be just another medicare plan wherein if one proves that one is indigent, one can receive subsidized health care. As always, those of us who actually pay for our plans will cover the growing hordes who do not. As usual, those who work hard to stay fit and eat properly incur the costs associated with the generally deleterious lifestyles pursued by the chronically unemployable. Oh well, maybe the gym will become less crowded.