Why the Health Care Overhaul Is a Bad Idea
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This week, President Obama announced his own version of the massive health care overhaul that has been in the workings for the past year. His version, which is really just the Senate bill with a few small variations, would cost $950 BILLION over the next ten years. It would require all Americans to purchase health insurance, ban “excessive” insurance premium hikes, and delay the proposed tax hike on high-value insurance plans until 2018. To pay for the bill, there would be cuts to the Medicare Advantage program and fees would be charged to companies and individuals that do not comply with the bill. Sounds great, right? WRONG. This proposal has people up in arms–and for good reason. This article will explain why many Americans, myself included, believe that this proposal is the wrong solution to the wrong problem at the wrong time.
1. This is not health care reform; it is health insurance reform. It is really frustrating to me to keep hearing this proposal referred to as health care reform. In reality, this bill would do nothing to reform health care. Instead, it targets health insurance. While this may just seem like semantics, health insurance is not the root cause of our health care problems. Any successful attempt to reform health care needs to start at the root of the problem–not the symptoms of it. Inefficient practices and overspending at the hospital and physician’s office level need to be corrected. Something needs to be done about the huge amount of money being spent to protect against malpractice suits. A stronger focus needs to be placed on preventative medicine: it is much cheaper to prevent a medical condition from occurring than it is to treat a fully developed medical condition. Does this mean that the health insurance industry is perfect? No. What it does mean is that if we are going to spend a fortune on a massive health care overhaul, it needs to actually focus on the problems that need fixed the most.
2. We are in a recession; this is not the time to be spending massive amounts of money. If you are reading this blog, you probably have a good awareness of basic financial principles. One of the most important financial principles in existence is to not spend more than you earn. Our country has a massive debt and this bill will only add to it. I do not buy the claims that this bill will not affect the deficit. I can only see it raising the deficit and costing taxpayers more money in the long run. During this difficult financial time, we need to be responsible with our money. We need to be focused on lowering our debts and finding ways to keep our budget balanced. Just like a person shouldn’t be out buying expensive luxuries when he or she is unemployed, our country should not be spending about a trillion dollars during a recession. Instead, we should be focused on cutting costs, paying off our debts, and creating jobs.
3. We do not want the federal government controlling our lives. American citizens are already responsible for following many laws and paying many taxes. This bill would only increase the government’s control over our lives. Why should everyone be required to purchase health insurance? I am a huge believer in the importance of health insurance, but that does not mean I want to force everyone to feel the same way as me. What about the multi-millionaire who has enough money to insure himself? What about those who only want a minimum amount of insurance for catastrophic events? This bill may not eliminate high-deductible insurance plans and health savings accounts, but it will bring us one step closer to doing so. I want the freedom to choose what I do with my own money. The more the federal government controls, the less freedom we have.
4. Wealthy people are already paying a majority of the taxes in this country, why should we ask them for more? Let me start by saying that I am not opposed to wealthy people paying more taxes than low-income people. However, I feel that they are already paying much, much more in taxes than low-income people and the amount we are asking from them is becoming ridiculous. I firmly believe that people should be allowed to work hard and obtain financial success from that hard work. I do not believe in punishing someone for becoming successful. While I believe that wealthy people have a responsibility to help those less fortunate than themselves, I believe it should be left to the individual to decide in what way they wish to help. They should not be forced to give away all their money without any say in where that money goes.
5. The majority of American people do not support this bill. Despite my opposition to this proposal, if the majority of Americans supported it, I would not be nearly as angry about it as I am. However, poll after poll and the special election in Massachusetts have repeatedly proven America’s overwhelming opposition to this proposal. It shocks and frightens me that our government, a government designed to represent the will of the people, seems to be completely ignoring the people it represents. I feel as though our government is going out of control and has been for a while. This is NOT the way our government is supposed to work. In order for this bill to be passed, a tricky process called reconciliation would have to be used. This would require the House accepting the Senate bill as it is and then both chambers of Congress passing the changes suggested by Obama. To pass these changes, only a simple majority would be needed instead of the sixty votes normally needed in the Senate. I believe using this process in this way is a complete abusive of the legislative process. It is a sneaky way to try to pass a bill that does not have the support to be passed in the normal way. Tricky tactics like this only further my distrust in our government.
I firmly believe that if this bill passes, Congress is going to have a rude awakening come this year’s elections. If a highly democratic state like Massachusetts can vote in a Republican, then many other states can too. This election will be the only way for Americans to make their voices heard. Also, if Obama keeps ignoring the will of the people the way he has been, then he will be shocked to find himself serving only one term in office.
Do I believe we need health care reform? Yes. Do I believe that this is the way we should do it? No. What do you think? What side do you stand on? I would love to hear your thoughts!
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I agree. The more I see of the bill in Washington the less I like it. My opinion is our leaders wasted a year on this bill which gets worse by the day when we really need to address the economy.
I always make sure that my family gets Health Insurance from very reputable companies. health insurance is very important these days.-`~