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.