Issues With Obama’s Policy: Part 2

Health care reform is a great new buzz phrase, and the Obama Administration is doing a great job of pushing the idea of wellness and the benefits of the new health care legislation. It is true that it is not possible to please everyone, but it is unclear as to whether or not the public understands the cons of the current Obama reform.

According to the House of Representatives, the reform bill covers a shift in the following: coverage and choice, affordability, shared responsibility, controlling costs, prevention and wellness, and workplace investments. The first two are discussed in the previous part of the article.

In addition to the affordability and coverage, another issue is shared responsibility. This states that everyone takes responsibility for buying health care, allowing those who couldn’t afford it to have health care. For if health care is mandated by the Obama health care reform, then insurance companies are getting a larger pool of customers and so overall premiums can be lowered.

Under the Obama reform there will be a penalty charge based on your overall income if you do not purchase health care. However, this takes away an American’s Right to Choose, for if you do not wish to take part in the reform health care system and wish to seek alternative methods of health care, you will be penalized.

The burden of cost will also fall on businesses. If employers choose to not provide benefits for employees, they will be forced to pay a tax for every employee they have that has federally funded health care. Small businesses will be exempt from the reform, but as a business grows, if it has a payroll that is larger than $250,000, it too will have to pay a percentage tax for its federally insured employees.

There will be an Obama tax credit available to small businesses who wish to provide insurance, yet the overall goal is the same, forcing individuals and companies to provide insurance. This reform should be a choice and not a mandate.

The Obama Administration states that it is also taking responsibility upon itself to provide health care for others, yet it seems that with the reform responsibility is indirectly being passed on to the individual who can afford to fund it for others.

The bill also states that the Obama administration would like to increase community programs, and state and territorial public health programs, however it is unclear how this will be funded. It is also unclear whether the changes will be based on the desires of constituents, or the decisions made by a government committee.

Therefore although only good things have been promised by Obama for health care reform in this country, Americans need to pay attention to the fine print. For while it may benefit one group, those that are satisfied with the current situation may be hesitant to accept the new change of the Obama health care reform bill.

* Information retrieved from:

http://edlabor.house . gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BILLSUMMARY-071409.pdf