Health Care Bill: Win or Lose?
Heath care has many possibilities and if we give it enough of a chance it could reshape care for millions of Americans. On March 21, 2010, President Obama signed the new health care bill that will expand coverage to some 32 million people that are currently uninsured in 2014. Any individuals that refuse to pay for the coverage will be slapped with a $675 fee. Another positive to the new bill is that insurance will become more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care ever recorded. The health insurance market is going to become very competitive because it will be completely redone. This will make it more equal for all Americans because everyone will have the same choices when it comes to health care. Basically nobody is going to be turned away if they are paying for the insurance, so everyone will get taken care of. Also, Americans with pre existing conditions will be done having to deal with the discrimination. There are hopes that the health care bill is going to put us on a new path that is going to help us get out of debt. When I think about the different elements of this health care bill all I can think is this really constitutional? The answer to this question would be it all depends on whose opinion you ask. If you asked a Democrat they would most likely tell you yes it is constitutional and for the better of our country; where a Republican would disagree and do everything they could to stop it. This health care bill is something that is very historic and important to our country. With that being said Republicans just aren’t going to let it go and forget about it, they are going to put up a fight in the upcoming elections.
Insurance companies are going to have to drop coverage costs because of the 32 million new customers they will be receiving in 2014. This could benefit very well because costs will become much cheaper and it will be more economical for individuals. One of the first things that is going to change is that insurers will no longer be able to sell policies with lifetime caps on insurance. Also beginning in 2014, insurers won't be able to deny coverage to people with pre existing conditions. This most likely is going to result in an explosion of premiums because legislation is not going to create universal coverage. Premiums will rise for people that are making somewhere within the $400,000 range. Insurance companies will be receiving over 32 million new users. If insurance coverage’s drop, more than 23 million people (a third illegal immigrants) will be able to afford coverage and fewer people will try to get out of having the insurance. Insurance companies are not excited about the new bill because of how quick everything is happening and it's going to restrict the insurer’s freedom of action.
It is speculated that primary health care physicians will be hit the hardest with the new Health Care bill and there might be a shortage of doctors. In result of this, there may not be enough doctors to see all of the people that are covered and the quality of care slowly will fall. In the state of Illinois there are one physician for every 1,070 patients(Adorka). Because of the Health Care bill there are going to be no more incentives for the primary care physicians. According to Dr. Javette Orgain, with the new health care bill we won’t have enough people to serve the communities. “We have too many single organ doctors like nephrology, neurology and cardiology, as opposed to those that treat the whole person,” said Dr. Orgain. This is also causing many medical students to decide to go into specialties because they pay almost $200,000 more(Adorka). Primary care physicians will then have a heavier work load because of the shortages of doctors. This is going to make for longer waiting times, less appointment availability, and possibly even higher medical costs for consumers. That is a lot of people and doctors offices aren’t going to be able to handle them all at once. Doctors already don’t get to spend much time with there patients and when the bill goes into effect you may be seeing a nurse practitioner for most of the time(Adorka). It is suggested to go now for a checkup and find out how your health is, so you can take preventative measures now and build a better relationship with your primary physician before the bill in 2014(Adorka).
According to Professor Barry Bluestone, he is estimating a 10 to 20 percent increase in health care visits in doctors offices and clinics. The worry is that 30 percent of the medical field is primary care physicians and the other 70 percent is specialists. That number is already low for primary care physicians, so just imagine what it will be like in 2014. This is going to make for a need of more employees because we need more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, administrative works and many more as well(Perman). This is going to be one of the very good things coming out of the Health Care bill because we have struggled for some time on the shortage of jobs. All we can do is what and see what is going to happen in our doctors offices
What about the individuals that say I refuse to pay for health insurance? Well, that’s not going to be allowed unless your wanting to pay over 600 dollars for refusing to carry health insurance. As I know many people are not going to want to do that, many will because they won’t have the money to pay for the health insurance. Also it is going to be a huge problem for elderly people as over 500 billion dollars will be cut from the medicare program that helps pay for there medical bills. They also are saying it's not going to result in more taxes, but it most likely is. The government has to be able to pay for this health care reform somehow. The first places going to be taxed are the businesses and then families making over $250,000 will pay higher medicare taxes. Individuals are not going to want to pay all of these extra fees and this is going to cause a lot of people to be upset. Let me recap a little bit and remind you that everyone living in the United States is going to be required to have health insurance. That includes poverty level families and immigrants from all over the world that are living here illegally. That doesn’t seem fair because they aren’t citizens, but if they are living here and want health care it’s what has to be done. Families that can’t afford health care will be helped by government, but that means it will be coming out of our paychecks.
I can say that there are many things we know about the actual health care bill and there are many things we will never know. We as Americans need to know what’s going on too and if we don’t like something we should have a choice. Doctors offices need to prepare for this bill going into full effect. Their going to need a system that makes the days become very efficient. By doing so they will get paid and won’t be getting stressed from seeing to many patients. People are going to have to calm down and not expect to get into every doctor they want now. It needs to have a limit on the amount of visits and make sure that is very clear.
Health care is something that’s amazing and saves millions of lives every year. It also deals with many problems like fraud, mistakes, and uncaring insurance companies. This new bill has the possibilities to reshape all of that and make it so no child has to suffer without medical attention and pregnant moms can be taken care of. The look in someones eyes when they can’t afford something is awful. You instantly want to give in and not charge them. You can’t do that though, this will make it so we won’t be seeing so many of those sad faces.
Works Cited
Adorka, Candace. “Experts Predict Severe Shortage of Health Care Providers in 2014.” Medill Reports Chicago. 13 April 2010. http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=162934
Dubord, Steven J. "Requiring Health Insurance Is Not Like Auto." The New American. 15 Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/health-care/1882-requiring-health-insurance-is-not-lke-auto>.
Hosssain, Farhana, and Kevin Quealy. "How the Health Care Overhaul Could Affect You - Graphic - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/21/us/health-care-reform.html>.
Khan, Huma. "Obama Signs Health Care Bill Into Law - ABC News." ABCNews.com: Breaking News, Politics, World News, Good Morning America, Exclusive Interviews - ABC News. 23 Mar. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/WN/HealthCare/obama-signs-health-care-bill-law/story?id=10178597>.
Ken Terry. "Big Winner in Healthcare Reform? Insurance Companies, Eventually | BNET." BNET - The CBS Interactive Business Network. 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://www.bnet.com/blog/healthcare-business/big-winner-in-healthcare-reform-insurance-companies-eventually/1267>.
Perman, Cindy. "News Headlines." CNBC Mobile Home. 25 Mar. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://www.cnbc.com/id/36036747/Health_Care_Reform_s_Major_Hurdle_Doctor_Shortages>
