Although this is a controversial decision, and it's not final, this would actually end up saving money for the majority of Americans. With almost 46 million Americans uninsured, the cost of them to be treated comes from a hidden tax that is placed upon both businesses and families. According to, Families USA, people who are insured pay a "hidden health tax" in insurance premiums, donations, and taxes that totals to approximately $1000 per year. So even if you are fortunate enough to be insured, you are still losing money to the current health care system for not covering the millions of uninsured Americans. Placing penalties on people who don't get the coverage (much like auto-insurance) will force more people to get into the system, saving us all money. This government run program proposed by the Senate Finance Committee does not include the controversial public option and Max Baucus, the chairman of The Senate Finance Committee, says that this plan would expand health coverage while reducing the federal deficit, and will lower taxes for more than 42 million people.
Passing the bill through these committees and on to Congress highlights how important it is for our health, our overall economy and our country as a whole to reform the systems currently in place. In 2001 there were 39.8 million Americans uninsured. In 2008, that number has risen to 46.3 million, making it clear that the current system has failed and is failing at a rapid pace. According to the Organization for Economic cooperations and Development, currently, the United States of America has the most expensive health care system in the wold, spending 50 percent more per person on our health care coverage then the average developed country. We currently spend more money on health care than on food and shelter, a problem Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of Health and Human Resources sees as a major issue. "Protect what works about health care and fix what's broken, and do it in a way that does not add to the deficit" said Sebelius, "the high cost of care is hurting all of us."
In the last 9 years, employer sponsored insurance premiums have doubled while wage increases increase at a rate 3 times slower. The United States spent around $2.2 trillion dollars on health care in 2007, which comes out to $7,421 per person, according to whitehouse.gov, which is nearly twice the average of other developed nations. According to the Congressional Budget Office, by 2025 one of every four dollars in our economy will be involved with the health system making it harder to compete with the economies of countries with cheaper health care. It's not like the expense of our health care is paying off either, according to a contributing editorial written by Secretary Sebelius for CNN outlining her thoughts on Health Care Reform, she states that amongst developed countries, the United States ranks 24th in life expectancy and only three "developed" countries have higher infant mortality rates then the United States. How are we supposed to fix this problem with the system in place?
President Obama, as we all know, has made Health Care Reform the cornerstone of his young presidency. While working with Congress, it is important to support his efforts to control the rapidly growing cost of health care while making sure it is affordable for all Americans. Despite rumors and lies that the opposition is trying to pass on to Americans (I'm looking at you Glenn Beck), this is NOT an attempt to mimic the health care system in place in Canada.
Just like in the current health care system, Americans will still be able to choose their own doctors to assure that the treatments and coverage they are receiving is what they need most, that they see the proper specialist and that their care is high quality. Working on both sides of the isle, ammending proposed and approved bills, such as, The Baucus Bill, will lead to reducing health care costs for both businesses and the government, giving the rest of America a similar plan that our Congressional members enjoy. This will give families a better opportunity to focus on paying the rent and buying groceries, stimulating our economy in more ways the one. It is also important to understand that this reform should improve the quality of care for individuals by taking the power out of pharmeceutical companies hands, allowing them to perscribe the more affordable treatment to a patient, rather then perscribing the equally as effective more expensive pill to make an extra buck.
Another way to cover more Americans, is Obama's insistence to stop the denial of coverage due to preexisting conditions. Insurance companies fear they will lose money to someone with say, Diabetes, because it cost a lot to have a disease. Did these people chose to have these diseases?
TYPE 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune disease that is not caused from not taking care of yourself, it is a dangerous disease that demands constant medical attention. This medical attention is costly (needles, insulin, Glucose testers, Doctor's visits etc..). How are you supposed to have these people pay for all that out of their paychecks? Diabetes is just one of many things that are considered a pre existing condition, and these conditions effect millions of people in this country. Why shouldn't they be covered? If you have a broken leg, and happen to switch insurance companies during that time, there is a great chance that you will be denied. If you have heart-disease you WILL be denied, the list goes on and on. This is an aspect of reform that WILL pass, it WILL be an important step to pushing this bill through, and it is guaranteed to happen if passed, so please for the sake of people with diseases, cancer and any other thing that would be considered pre-existing, support this bill.
In past efforts to inact health care reform, there wasnt a comprehensive approach -leading to a clear division amongst important provisions and clauses that were important to passing Health Care reform. This time around, Obama and his administration are reaching out to all areas involved in enacting a successful reform, including doctors, unions, pharmeceutical companies, and reaching out to both sides of the isle. His efforts have created an effective debate across the country where American's are being heard on both sides of the issue. This approach will lead to the most effective conclusion of a bill that should pass through Congress, pleasing the opposition as much as humanly possible in today's day in age of politics.
I have only touched on a few things here, but the problem branches deeper into the American economical issues. People don't realize that you lose insurance when you switch jobs. They also don't realize that, just because what they have is working for them, that they are still losing a lot of money due to higher premiums and taxes due to the amount of people that can't afford health care. There are sick people that are being denied chemo therapy because their insurance companies basically denied them the right to live by not covering them. This happens to people WITH insurance, let alone people who can't afford it at all. With outbreaks like H1N1, it is becomming more and more apparent that we need coverage across the nation to ensure that our children have the right to medical attention when needed in their lifetime. If this doesn't go through, then you insured people are going to lose money due to the treatment of uninsured patients, and that number is rising as, I stated above.
People doing the right thing, by working, deserve to be covered. An important person in my life is a type 1 diabetic, and works as a Registered Nurse. When she switched off her parents insurance, things got difficult, being denied over and over again just because she is diabetic. She had to act quick and had to keep revising her application, until finally they decided to cover her. Although she is now covered, she still pays out of pocket for many of her expenses in which the insurance company wants no part of, not even a small percentage. Her medical bills, even with the insurance, almost equal her rent and living expenses every month. This is a full time employee, with a degree from Indiana University, working in the medical field helping other people, and yet she gets denied coverage.
As for myself, I am independent now, taken off my parents insurance plans. I am no longer enrolled in school, because I can't afford to finish quite yet and I am 23 years old. That leaves me with part-time jobs for now, until I get something going, and these businesses cannot afford to offer their employees health insurance, and some of these employees use these jobs to support their families, who have to go uninsured. There are packages I can purchase, but thanks to part-time jobs, I can't afford them. Like Obama said, "No one should go broke because they got sick!" I have to pay rent and buy groceries. So what happens if I get H1N1? I will get treated at Bloomington Hospital, who graciously treats everyone that walks in their doors, and then be in debt for the rest of my life, oh and at the same time the hospital is using YOUR premiums and taxes to pay for the temporary treatment of their uninsured patient.
There is a problem here, lets fix it. Let Congress know you support Health Care Reform, even if you don't agree with the things you hear now, supporting it means it will go to Congress and they will amend the bills, and put together something that is best for the overall country. It encourages positive change.
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