Health Care Reform and Its Consequences
The US House of Representatives voted to pass the US Senate's version of a health care reform bill. The bill is purported to provide health care for millions of uninsured Americans and prevent health insurance companies from denying coverage for preexisting conditions. One of the bill's sweetners is that it is expected to reduce the US deficit by $143 billion over its first ten years.
What many Americans don't know is that many provisions in the bill do not take effect until 2014 - 4 years down the road. The rosy picture painted by the bill's proponents neglects the effect this will have overall. Provisions within the bill require health insurance companies to provide services not previously mandated. By not requiring all Americans to have health insurance until 2014, this reduces the pool of Americans paying into health care and will result in those currently having insurance to pay more for what they have now.
The deficit reduction is a sham. The deficit reduction only occurs over the first 5 years of the program after which costs skyrocket ending up adding to the country's budget deficit. The section that provides long term health care requires the elderly to pay into the program for 5 years before being eligible for any benefits. The accrual of monies during the first 5 years is what creates the illusion of deficit reduction. After the first 5 years, costs to administer the long term care program will exceed the payments coming in and add to the US budget deficit every year there after.
President Obama needed a victory as a basis for running for a second term. He chose health care reform as his target. He was ready to sign anything labeled health care reform, no matter what was in the bill. He got his re-election bill passed. The question is, will the American people re-elect his Democratic 'partners' in the US House and Senate or throw the bums out come the next election.
3/23/10 ( 680 )
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