Theory Post

Despite the passing of the health care reform bill, there is still much argument over the issue. Republicans and Democrats are still not agreeing on what is best for our country. Ezra Klein, an opinionated blog writer, addresses some of the issues that are still being discussed. He claims that all Republicans are only seeing the faults in the health care bill. Peter Suderman, a columnist for the Washington Post, states that the new health care bill does nothing for Medicare. In fact, it does but Medicare double-counts some of its savings in its public statements. Klein describes the differing views of people on the health care bill by saying, “Most of the people who support the bill are something like 70:30 for the bill -- it makes things better, but there's a lot in there they'd like to be different. The bill's opponents speak as if they're closer to 100% against the bill: Everything is bad, it'll destroy American health care, none of the cost controls will work, [and] all the promises are lies.”
Bob Samuels, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, says that the bill is good in working with people who have pre-existing conditions. However, insurance companies will be the real winners because they will be insuring more people and be able to pass on the increased prices to those insured by raising premiums. Samuels claims that a totally different plan is needed because this one will not be affordable.
The issue on health care is so controversial in the first place because it is going to affect everyone. Everyone has to have health insurance by law. There is no easy answer to ending the debate. I do not think that everyone will ever be 100 percent happy with the health care bill. People weren’t happy with the one we had and it was clear that reform was needed. I think the only way to bring an end to this debate is compromise. Obviously, the bill will never please everyone, but we have to realize what is best for the majority of our country.

Analysis of Health Care Reform Bill

The medical mission trip that I took to the Dominican Republic last summer motivated me to become involved in health care. Access to any sort of health care there is extremely limited. There is almost no care outside of the country’s capital, Santo Domingo.
Although the health care conditions in a third world country like the Dominican Republic may seem abhorrent, the United States does not rank much higher than some third world countries in terms of equity of service to all citizens. The World Health Organization rated the national health care systems of 191 countries in terms of “fairness,” and the United States was ranked fifty-fourth.
Health care reform has become an important issue in America recently, and I wanted to find out more about the underlying factors and get both sides of the argument. I don’t understand why a country as rich and as medically advanced as ours is unable to provide everyone with access to health insurance. I figured that this blog project would be a great time to learn about something that I’m so interested in.
The American health care system is flawed in a number of ways. It is clear that reform is needed. The key issues are which parts of the system are flawed and what should be done to fix the flaws. The new health care bill that President Barack Obama signed in March will affect everyone. The new bill will be activated in portions, and the whole thing is expected to be implemented by 2014. This bill will affect everyone differently. Basically, everyone will have health insurance. Small businesses will be offered tax credits in order to give all employees health insurance. Insurance companies must reduce paperwork and justify their premium increases. Doctors will pay increased amounts for malpractice insurance and will have low government reimbursement rates.
Since the passage of the bill, Republicans have been working hard to get it repealed. They are concerned that it will impose an overwhelming tax burden on Americans for many years to come. They also are saying that it will increase the deficit and raise premium costs. The party is worried that it will impose higher prescription drug costs on seniors and the disabled.
The Democratic Party platform is based solely on making health insurance affordable and accessible to everyone. The party plans to offer tax credits to make quality, dependable coverage affordable. They plan on reducing premium costs by $1,000 by paying for the highest-cost medical cases. There will also be a Medicare prescription drug benefit to ensure that Medicare surpluses are used only for Medicare. This will make prescription drugs affordable for seniors. In the long run, the deficit will be reduced by $1 trillion by the government providing tax cuts and credits.
Some Republicans argue that health insurance is a luxury and not a right. They argue that we are slowly turning into a socialistic government. Yet, we are the only industrialized country in the world without some form of socialized health care. Republicans also argue that we have “the best health care system in the world,” but the World Health Organization ranked us 54th in fairness of our health care system out of 191 countries.
The Office of Personnel Management director, John Berry, recognizes that health insurance premiums for federal workers will be going up next year. The reason that this is happening is because new benefits are being offered. These benefits include preventive care costs being fully covered and young adults being able to stay on family plans until the age of 26. Government run health insurance premium rates are increasing, but they are increasing at a lower rate than those in the private-sector.
The new health care bill is going to affect everyone in different ways. Doctors and physicians “in general should benefit from this bill, and patients should benefit because they will be able to get preventive care and not rely on emergency rooms," said James Thrall, chair of the American College of Radiology's Board of Chancellors. Overall, the reform bill should benefit doctors because in 2008 it was shown that physicians spent almost $24 billion in charity care, much of which was for uninsured patients.
In the new plan everyone will have to get health insurance. Families earning less than $88,000 a year will be given government subsidies to help pay for health insurance. If they still truly cannot afford health insurance they will be granted a ‘hardship exemption.’ Families that earn at least $100,000 annually will buy health insurance or will pay a penalty if they don’t have it. The extremely wealthy, those earning $200,000 to $250,000 a year, will be taxed 30 percent higher in order to help pay for Medicare expansion. Those in support of the health care reform bill argue that requiring insurance is key to keeping costs down "because there are plenty of healthy uninsured people who will reduce premiums for sick uninsured Americans by being forced to be a part of the insurance pool,” as stated by Harvard Professor Amitabh Chandra. The 32 million Americans that are currently uninsured will be required to get health insurance.
America has the “best-in-the-world” doctors and hospitals but medical systems are out of reach for millions of Americans. In the education and training of doctors, nurses, technicians, and state-of-the-art medical research, America leads the world. T.R. Reid, a former Washington Post reporter, says that “The United States is good at providing medical care but not financing it.” He also states that, “All the developed countries I looked at provide health coverage for every resident, old or young, rich or poor. This is the underlying moral principle of the health care system in every rich country—every one, that is, except the United States.” The United States has the most expensive health care in the world, but we aren’t any healthier for it.
There is no reason that our advanced doctors and hospitals are not able to prevent death from diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer. This is why insurance companies will now be required to cover routine checkups and preventive care at no extra charge. Some of the preventive care services that will now be provided at no extra charge include: 1. Certain cancer screenings like breast, cervical, colorectal, etc. 2. Daily aspirin use to prevent heart disease 3. Immunizations for children and adults 4. Vision screening, and 5. Treatment of hypertension

This video is the very condensed version of the Obama health care reform plan. In his speech, President Obama assures the American Public that there will be no denial of coverage for a pre-existing health condition nor will there be any money added to the government budgetary deficit. This will be accomplished by medical experts checking up on insurance companies to eliminate fraud and wasteful spending. Also, the President plans on making insurance reforms for small businesses such as creating an insurance exchange, providing tax-credits based on needs, and creating a not-for-profit public health option.

This video simply displays all of the options we have to reform our health care system. It was released in April 2009 so already some of these reforms are taking place. The political aspect of the health care system can be very confusing but this video does a good job of representing it in an easy to understand format.

Survival of the Fittest

     Barack Obama's health care reform bill is already receiving criticism.  Republicans are working hard to get it repealed.  Robert Reich, Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, says that the basic idea behind the Republicans' reasoning is to, "force people to live with the consequences of whatever happens to them."  He compares our current health care debate to Social Darwinism of the 19th century when only the fittest would survive.  All others would be left behind.
     Health care costs are going to rise much faster and much higher if the new health care legislation is repealed.  If the legislation is not repealed, some 30 million Americans are going to receive health insurance.  Again, if the health care bill is repealed, these 30 million Americans are going to be put in much more expensive emergency rooms, and who's going to have to pay? America's taxpayers are.
     The new health care bill is going to help slow the rise of health costs.  The medical "exchange" it calls for will provide people with useful information about health costs and benefits.  Currently, individuals have almost no choice in the coverage they are purchasing.  The marketplace is very confusing and insurance companies are not required to provide people with information about the costs and benefits they will be receiving or not receiving under a certain plan.  Therefore, it is easy to get "ripped off."  The new bill, however, requires an exchange that will make choices easier, more understandable, and less expensive by providing information about the costs and benefits they will be receiving.

Health Insurance: Conservatives vs. Liberals

     Having good health insurance is very important anywhere.  Had my family not had good health insurance for all the surgeries I had to have, then I would be suffering from facial paralysis and most likely deafness in my right ear.  If Nikki White, a college graduate who had lupus, could afford health insurance then she would not have died from a disease that can usually be treated when given access to proper care.  We are the richest nation in the world with the best doctors and hospitals yet we cannot provide all of our citizens with health insurance.  Almost 2 million people go bankrupt each year in America from medical bills.  No other country’s citizens go bankrupt from medical issues.

     The very liberal beliefs on health care is that health insurance should be provided for everyone.  It should be like car insurance.  It should be something you must have.  They believe that all people should be provided with the same health care benefits regardless of their ability to pay.  They support low-cost government controlled health care.  

     The super conservatives believe in the free market health care system.  They think health care should be privatized so everyone does not have the same "poor-quality" health insurance that would be given if it was controlled by the government.  They think that the problem of uninsured individuals should be solved through the free market health care system, not by the government. 

     Arizona and Oklahoma are the first two states to try to nullify the part of the new health care reform bill that requires everyone to get health insurance.  They want to prohibit the government from making everyone get health insurance.  The only way that this reform bill will be beneficial to everyone is if everyone has to have it.  That is how they plan to keep the cost per individual as low as it can be.  The reform bill will not be beneficial at all if Arizona and Oklahoma nullify that part of the reform bill.

Intro-post

 

 Health care reform is clearly a big issue in today's society.  The issue must be addressed because there are many people without the ability to pay for to the proper care they need.  My interest in this topic stems from my medical history and the medical mission work I have done in third world countries.  I have had three major surgeries to remove a tumor near my brain.  Without health insurance, my parents would not have been able to afford the surgeries that I needed.  I feel so fortunate for the health insurance that allowed for the safe and effective procedures I needed.  Every summer I go to the Dominican Republic with a few doctors from my town and volunteers from my church.  While there, we provide the people in this impoverished country with the medical attention that they need.  No one there has access to good health insurance.  It broke my heart to see thousands of people with no access to proper health care.  They live in a third world country and cannot get even adequate health care.  This made me want to learn more about our health care system in America and compare it to the health care system in third world countries like the Dominican Republic.  I feel so passionate about the work I do there and I love the two weeks I spend there every summer.  This has pushed me to want to pursue a career as a nurse. 

With the passing of Obama's health care reform bill in 2009, we have begun to see some new reforms take place.  Just a few of these reforms include: all patients under ninteen with pre-existing conditions must be covered, all health insurance plans must cover certain preventive care services with no additional charge to the patients, and all plans will have to cover dependents through the age of 26.  

Democrats and Republicans have very different views on many aspects of the new health care bill.  I will cover the views of both Democrats and Republicans and argue my opinion on the current health care reforms.