The first article that I read on CNN was "Obama: Requiring Health Insurance is not a Tax Increase." Obama says that requiring health insurance is not going to increase on our taxes at all. In fact, Obama even states that people who need help will still be able to be helped by the government, but the individuals that are doing good and just choose not to have insurance, will be required to do so. This will solve many issues because we will lose all of the outstanding medical bills people get because these people don't have health insuracne. It's actually one of the top reasons so many people are in debt today.
Another article I read called "Requiring Health Insuracne is not like Auto." I chose this because the first article was about the positives and this one was more on the negative side. Obama says, "That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance just as most states require you to carry auto insurance." Well this caused quite an uproar because people said that this is nothing like auto insurance. The first difference between the two is that only people that drive automobiles are required to have auto insurance and under Obama's plan everyone will be required to have health insurance. Another issue is that requiring health insurance would become a federal law and the only way you could avoid it would be to leave the country.
The topic of my argumentative essay is going to be if the idea for health insurance is going to be required, will it really be a good idea and will it actually work out? It does seem like a very good idea and seems that it will solve many problems, but things could always backfire.
I have been thinking about it a bit more and I was thinking maybe I could talk more about how are health care providers going to change when everyone ends up have insurance. People will be just going to the doctor to have things done because they can and medical doctors are just going to be doing all kinds of procedures when people don't really need it. Doctors are going to be losing money because of all patients having insurance.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to write a research paper on something taht hasn't happened yet; I like the idrection of where you are going. How come Health Insurance shoudl not be like auto insurtance. YOu need to go inot more detail about such insureance is created including how it comes to have the price it does. A little history would be good, too. You can always offer your specualtive point about waht might happen, but it will be a weak point if you don't have some concrete aspect to show--like how that happened in other countries, or somehting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last comment from a follower that maybe you could tell us more of the facts about the law in terms of pricing and how it would work and, in terms of background, why universal coverage has to be part of the law to make it workable. I think it is important to know these facts before aiming criticism at the law.
ReplyDeleteJust a quick thought about the auto insurance comparison: We can choose whether or not to have a car, but we are all stuck with our bodies and with taking care of ourselves - no choice. We cannot opt out. Some people choose not to buy health insurance, but sooner or later, they need health care, maybe because of illness or an accident. Now in some cases for some people, paying out of pocket might be cheaper than carrying a policy, but eventually it will not be so, and then those people are on the public dole--emergency care, medicaid, etc., which is an expensive way for the rest of us to keep those people healthy. So, let's manage that cost and care from the beginning with everyone paying a fair share, and eventually everyone gets a fair benefit.
I agree that I need more information about how health insurance isn't like car insurance. I think that could be a very good argument because this is something that is going to change the lives of everyone. I will make sure to check out how insurance is in other countries so we can have some comparisons of how things are in other places. Also I'd like to know how much extra people are going to have to pay for health insurance. I'm sure every individual will be different based on there house hold income.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Linda on knowing the facts before criticizing the law. I have so many different ideas of what I'd like to argue about that it's becoming difficult. I'd like to discuss why does this law have to make everyone have health insurance? There was no other way to make this work? Linda exactly what you said about we are stuck with our bodies so we have to take care of them is what mainly drew me into this topic. I have some friends that don't want insurance and now they have $5,000 in medical bills because of a illness that happened unexpectedly. These things do happen, so I believe by enforcing everyone to have health insurance really is going to be a great thing for the United States. Everyone should be equal and have to take care of themselves so others can help take care of us when we need it the most.
I like that you are starting to focus on an idea to develop--can you think of a way that the question about requiring health insurance of all and the price of it combine together? Also, is there a solution people are not thinking about? For example, could the uninsured create a Health Insurance group in the same way people have Renter's groups? Or something like that?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's fair that it someone who refuses to purchase health insurance gets hurt or sick and can't afford the bill can just pawn it off on taxpayers. Medical bills are outragious. I had a CT scan done last year and if I didn't have insurance, it would've cost a little over $8,000. For a test that took less than 20 minutes total. No one's invicible. It's not suprising that that's one of the leading causes of debt.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, starting up healthcare for everyone could have very high initial costs. And not everyone will be able to afford paying for healthcare. What happens if they can't pay it? The government will have to help out to decrease the poverty rates, and where does that money come from? Taxpayers :(
My highschool honors government teacher told me he read somewhere that Europeans smoke more than Americans, drink (alcohol) more, exercise less, and yet they are still far healthier than the average US citizen. Is this because of their universal healthcare?
I agree with Ashley when she says that it is really easy to go into debt with medical bills. If anyone knows about medical bills and going to the hospital it would be me. Without health insurance my family wouldn't even have a place to live thanks to me. Healthcare isn't bad at all and I don't think that people should be complaining about having to pay a little everyonce in a while for it. It will pay off in the end.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Ashley. People need to be aware of the consequences to not having health insurance. Yes it can get expensive, but it's going to be nowhere near as expensive as your medical bills without insurance. People just blow it of and think it's no big deal, but taxpayers shouldn't have to pick up the slack of the people who made that choice.
ReplyDeleteBy having health insurance be required I think it will change a lot of things because everyone will have it. The one thing I was kind of worrying about was that if everyone has insurance, that means everyone is required to be treated at doctors offices or hospitals. Will the hospitals and offices become overpopulated because of all the people coming in for health care? This is something I will be looking into.