The FAQ's of Health Care Reform

Here at Band Aids and American Boo-Boos we like to simplify information for our readers. As mentioned in previously, health care is a hot-topic issue. So in order to understand what is going on in the current health care package I have compiled a FAQ to answer all impeding queries.

*What is the Public option?

Don’t worry people, it’s not Communism. Basically the government will be offering a competing option when it comes to health care. It would require ALL American to purchase health care or be subject to a fine. “Consumers would be able to shop for and compare insurance plans in a new purchasing exchange and caps would be placed on patients' yearly health care costs,” said a Business week article. The public option would allow consumers to shop around for different health options other than the Private Insurance companies.

*What is Medicare and what does that have to do with Health Care Reform?

Medicare is a Government Health Insurance Program for a) People over the age of 65, b) People under 65 with disabilities. Under Obama’s plan, there will be no reduced Medicare benefits from the current situation.

*What are the opposing views of the proposed health care plan?

1) Republicans feel a public option would eliminate private health insurance.

2) Critics believe that the public option would reduce the quality of health care.

Critics to the opposition have noted that their claims have been unsubstantiated and wrought with “innuendo.”

*How is health care policy going to affect me in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts has already passed legislation that is being proposed by Obama. This mainly being that, “An individual mandate, an employer mandate, subsidies for the poor, insurance market reforms, and an "exchange" under which consumers can shop for coverage.” Massachusetts current situation is that 2.6% of its population is uninsured. Blue Cross Blue Shield MA controls 50% of the health care market in Massachusetts. The average annual premium (what individual families have to pay) is $14,220, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.

*Geez Leif, I’m still really not getting what you’re saying. Could you draw me some kind of picture of what’s going on in this health care situation?

This slideshow by writer Dan Roam and Medical Doctor Tony Jones clearly articulates the health care argument succinctly. It not only pinpoints that the crux of the Health Care Reform debate is about Insurance reform, but also labels different options proposed very clearly.

Health Care and You, Just the Facts

Hey people. This blog will be dedicated mainly to describing the current developments in health care reform on the local and national level. But before I start going into talking shop about health policy, I’m going to describe why you as a consumer of information would care to read this blog in the first place.

I’m hoping this first post will be a general overview of, WHY “Health Care Reform?” If your eyes glazed over after reading this, then you’re probably not completely involved with this issue at the moment. And that’s ok.

One of the reasons that health care is so big right now has to do with the direction of public policy. When new presidents come into power, they try to pass their key legislation within their first year of holding office. In President Obama’s case, he made many campaign promises regarding Health Care that he is trying to change while he still fresh as Commander-in-Chief.

President Obama realizes that there are some flaws with the American Health Care system. A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) quoted, “The U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance.” America it should be noted spends the most most money per capita ($5,267) than any other nation in the world.

2005 census information shows that 46.6 million people do not have health coverage .

With a country of 300 million people 15.3% are not covered by Health Insurance.

These uninsured people share many qualities including: showing an increased number of excessive deaths, receive less preventative care that lead to normally treatable diseases, and as cancer patients are 1.6% more likely to die after 5 years of diagnoses than insured patients.

Remember Obama’s goal is to, “Provide more security to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don’t. And lower the cost of health care for our families, our business, and our government.”

Government is taking on the issue of Health Care Reform because it is their duty to protect their citizens. But the tricky situation of the issue is that Health Care coverage currently is a Private enterprise. And when government gets its hands in the private sector, people get a little worried and start throwing out charged words like “socialism” and “communism.”

Now that we have a general background of the what “health care” means, we can start looking at the current debate in a national context, and also I’ll bring you some insight of the debate from my parts of Amherst, Massachusetts. Talk to you soon.