Why I support the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare

I know there are a lot of mixed emotions out there regarding the Supreme Court's decision that the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) is constitutional. I wanted to write about why I support it, and why I think this will be a great thing for our country - not from a political perspective, but from a fiscal one. I'm also going to avoid using statistics, because any numbers I pull will seem biased to someone, so forgive the generalities.

FIRST: I am pasting in a really great "explain to me like I am a five year old" explanation of the health insurance mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act - just cause I love it
From user 10over6 at reddit.com:

Bob: Hi, insurance company. I'd like to buy some health insurance.
Insurance company: No. You had cancer when you were 3 years old, and the cancer could come back. We're not selling health insurance to you.
Bob: It's not my fault I got cancer when I was three! Besides, that was years ago!
Insurance company: If we sell insurance to you, we'll probably lose money, and we're not doing it. Bob: But I need insurance more than anyone! My cancer might come back!
Insurance company: We don't care. We're not selling you insurance.
Obama: Hey, that's totally not fair. Bob is right, he does need insurance! Sell Bob some insurance.
Insurance company: If we have to, I guess.
Mary: This is cool. Obama said the insurance company has to sell insurance to anyone who needs it.
Sam: Hey, I have an idea. I'm going to stop paying for health insurance. If I get sick, I can always go buy some insurance then. The insurance company won't be able to say no, because Obama's told them they have to sell it to anyone who needs it!
Dave: that's a great idea! I'm not paying for health insurance either, at least not until I get sick.
Insurance company: Hey! If everyone stops paying for insurance, we'll go bankrupt!
Obama: Oh come on Sam and Dave, that's not fair either.
Dave: I don't care. It saves me money.
Obama: Oh for god's sake. Sam, Dave, you have to keep paying for health insurance, and not wait until you're sick. You too, Mary and Bob.
Mary: But I'm broke! I can't buy insurance! I just don't have any money.
Obama: Mary, show me your piggy bank. Oh, wow, you really are broke. Ok, tell you what. You still have to buy insurance, but I'll help you pay 95% of the cost.
Mary: thank you.
Obama: I need an aspirin.
Insurance company: We're not paying for that aspirin.

Here is the link to "Explain Obamacare to me like I am a five year old" if you are interested. It is really helpful if you don't know what is in the law: Explain Obamacare and what it changed - Like I Am Five

And now to my own reasons why I support the Supreme Court's decision. Everyday, lots and lots of people need emergency care. Some because its actually an emergency, and some because they could not afford preventative care. Those people who couldn't afford preventative care are paid for by every taxpayer in America, because they can't afford the emergency care any more than they could afford the preventative care. Some people say that we should just turn those people away. Maybe, but logistically this isn't feasible. If hospitals did this, then no matter if you bleeding out, dying in the waiting room, they would need to verify insurance before treating you. And if they didn't, then when it came time to pay, they would pursue you to the ends of the earth to collect. The logical conclusion of this is that more people would be poverty stricken, homeless, and unhealthy - thus unable to work.

When a larger portion of the population is unable to work, they not only become a drag on our economy, but we lose production power. Our economy grows slowly, or not at all. At the end of the day, growing our economy and increasing our buying power is why we pay taxes. We pay so that the money can go to anything we deem may improve our community - police, fire, education, health care, city beautification - anything that might A) improve our ability to make goods and services, B) protect those goods and services, or C) bring more dollars in to our communities to buy our goods and services. Taking care of our work force is one way we do that. So at the end of the day, having people pay taxes that go towards taking care of our work force makes economical sense. And having those people who may need more treatment pay more taxes also makes sense (assuming ability to pay). This is what the health care mandate of the Affordable Care Act says - those who do not have health insurance (and are thus more likely to need emergency care at some point) will pay an increased tax amount, if they have the ability to pay said amount.

I also really love the way the Supreme Court made its ruling - they said the federal government cannot force states to take on such a huge burden as the increased medicare requirements (too much power to the federal government) AND that though they are upholding the Affordable Care Act's health insurance mandate, it is as a tax and not as an extension of the Commerce Clause (which, had they allowed that language in the Act, would also have given the federal government too much power.) This is, in my opinion, a win for the country in every way. The dangerous parts of the Act are neutralized and the parts that are good for our country fiscally are upheld.

I know we as a country are still hurting, and it seems stupid to pass spending bills, but here's the thing: austerity only works in the short term. If you (as an individual) are in debt, you can cut everything out of your budget to raise the money to pay your debt - health insurance, car maintenance, your college fund (or retirement fund), buying clothes to replace worn out ones, etc. All this stuff works in the short term. But long term, it catches up with you - you get caught in an emergency and you have no way to handle it because you cut all your preparedness spending.

PS - Talking about austerity in terms of how an individual spends or saves money is a really, really simplistic way to look at it, and doesn't get into the realities of economic policies and their affect on national and global markets at all, but I think its a decent way to explain my viewpoint without diving into years of economic theory and training.