Tappress - Healthcare Bill Editorial

 

September 15, 2009

Providing Affordable Health Insurance to the Entire Nation

By: Erin O’Brien 

Tappress

Despite the recent criticism of the Senate’s healthcare bill, most people don’t even know what the changes to our healthcare system will be.  Most are convinced that these changes will not be for the better, because of the negative spin that the media has unfairly attached to the reform plan. Many, who are convinced that it is unnecessary, don’t know how many people in the United States are living without health insurance because they cannot afford it.

Many people are worried that they will no longer be able to receive health insurance from their current provider.  This is untrue.  They will be able to keep their old insurance or take one of the packages the government will provide for them.  The corporate insurance will now be even cheaper because they will have more competition, thus controlling the rising healthcare costs. What are these healthcare reforms really going to do?

Countries in Europe have had a universal healthcare system that has been successful for almost two hundred years.  Their system has become so much more successful than the American one, that not only does our system cost about twice as much, but people are leaving the United States to receive their medical care elsewhere.

With this new reform, not only will every citizen be able to choose their plan, but they will also be assured the best choice of doctors.  The days of having to only go to the doctors that accept insurance from your company are gone.  We will never be forced to settle for second rate medical care again.

Another benefit is that even if you lose or change your job you will not lose your health insurance.  It will be carried with you wherever you are employed.  The cost of your insurance will not go up.  You can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing that both you and anyone that may depend on you are covered no matter what happens.

The government provided health insurance will not reject people who have pre-existing conditions the way that corporate insurers do.  They understand that it’s wrong to refuse to help those that need the help the most.

As the plan was proposed to the Senate, many were skeptical, claiming that it was politics as usual.  But healthcare costs that have been rising for the past several decades have only increased the insistence that has been in Washington for years to bring some change to an ailing system.  As President Obama puts it, “nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough.”

It was documented that, as recent as 2007, over 47 million Americans either have not enough or no health insurance.  France manages to cover every citizen of their country, while only spending 10.7% of their gross domestic product on healthcare.  The US can’t seem to do this, despite spending even more on healthcare.  We spend an astounding 16.5% of our gross domestic product to be exact.

So the question is how is this possible?  It is clear that there is something very, very wrong with the way healthcare works in this country.  But why, with all the time they have been spending on this issue can the government not come up with a solution?  And why can France do so much more than we can, but still manage to cost far less?