President Obamas Health Care Plans - Essay Example

President Obama’s Health Care Plans Total Number of Words 030 Introduction Being the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama recently announced his health care plans to improve the health and wellness of the American families. The main focus of his newly implemented health care plan includes the health care insurance reform. (The White House 2009) This study will first analyze the meaning of rhetoric based on social science perspective. In relation to the publicly announced health care insurance reform, the president’s stated goals and rhetoric used by President Obama will be compared and contrast with those individuals that are against his health care plans. In line with this, possible negative impact of health care insurance reform to the American families, family structure, and the public role played by the families will be thoroughly discussed. Rhetoric Based on Social Science Perspective Rhetoric in social sciences often uses economic analysis as a way of persuading the target audiences to support a proposed health care policy or reform. In line with this, the study of Jameson (1996) revealed that the problem with using economics as a way of convincing other people is that data-based empirical analysis that are extrinsic is limited in terms of its usefulness and validity of the data gathered. Based on social science perspective, the concept of functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism is often applied in rhetoric. The problem with the use of functionalism approach is that method often involves some hidden logic regarding the cause and effect of the proposed health care plan. (Bartlett and Burton 2007, p. 16) By stating that the health care reform is for the good of the American family without considering the economic impact of using a large sum of collected taxes on health care insurance alone could result to a more serious economic problem in the long-run. With the use of conflict theory, the proposed health care reform may suggest that the implementation of health care reform is for the benefits of all people even though it may remain a fact that health care inequalities will be left unresolved (Bartlett and Burton 2007, p. 17). In terms of using symbolic interactionism, Bartlett and Burton explained that this particular rhetoric strategy considers the “actions of members of the society as the source for understanding social phenomena and institutions rather than overarching structures” (p. 19). The problem with relying too much on symbolic interactionism is the fact that the U.S. government may not be able to weigh the pros and cons of implementing a new social policy or reform. Comparison between the Rhetoric Used by President Obama and Individuals Who are Against the Health Insurance Reform According to Max Baucus – the head of the Senate Finance Committee, “the time has come for action and we will act… to get this bill done by the end of the year” (Robinson 2009). Basically, the firm statement of Baucus could easily convince the target audience who do not have any economic background in order to foresee the socio-economic consequences of pushing the signing of the bill. President Obama’s administration has been very keen to push the health care insurance reform without paying much attention with the long-term consequences of pushing through the plan. In line with this, it is clear that the rhetoric being used by the new administration is based on the combination of functionalism and conflict theory. The U.S. government officials particularly the Democrats who are strongly supporting the implementation of the new health insurance reform are insisting that the plan is for the benefit of all people. In reality, it is those people who are paying more taxes who are going to indirectly shoulder the expenses on behalf of the minority groups who are not financially capable of getting their own Medicaid. Even though some of the minority would be able to benefit from Obama’s health insurance reform, the long-term economic consequences of pushing through the plan is way too much for the short-term health benefits of signing the bill. Based on President Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget report, the United States will be spending more than $2.2 trillion on health care expenses each year in order to provide temporary health care insurance to roughly 46 millions of Americans who do not have health care coverage, increase the health care coverage of the children, computerizing the health records of the patients within the next 5 years, developing a more effective medical intervention, and investing on the promotion of health prevention and wellness (The White House 2009b). In line with this, many people including the Republican remains sceptical with regards to the implementation of the new health insurance reform (Robinson 2009). According to William Galston – the former adviser of President Clinton, “the administration did a pretty good job of the inside-the-beltway persuasion reaching out to major interest groups but failed to do well in outside-the-beltway persuasion which most of the members of the Congress are focusing on” (Wingfield 2009). Based on the statement of Galston, it is clear that the administration has been one-sided in terms of designing the health insurance reform plan. Given that the administration was able to consider the interests of the majority, criticism on Obama’s health care plan will not be as controversial as it is after publicly announcing his health insurance reform plan. Conclusion The use of rhetoric is common in persuading the people concerning a new health care plan. In order to become effective in persuading the people to support President Obama’s health care plan, the government officials who were behind the creation of such idea should have considered the negative consequences entailed with pushing through the proposed health care reform. The proposed health insurance reform may temporarily help the American families to have better access to medical assistance. However, the proposed plan may result to more problems for the family since the main concern of the people is the lack of adequate employment opportunity rather than having health care insurance benefit coming from Obama’s administration. The problem with Obama’s health insurance reform lies with the fact that the U.S. economy is already at its lowest. Adding up to the U.S. government’s budget deficits is not a good idea since American people would suffer more in the end. *** End *** References Bartlett, S., and D. Burton. Introduction to Education Studies. Sage, 2007. Jameson, K.P. "Data and Social Science Rhetoric: Policy and Instuction." IASSIST Quarterly, 1996: pp. 18 - 24. Robinson, Dan. "VOA News." Obama to Push Controversial Health Care Plan During National Speech. September 9, 2009. http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-09-voa39.cfm?rss=topstories (accessed September 18, 2009). "The White House." Health Insurance Reform. 2009. http://www.whitehouse.gov/ (accessed September 18, 2009). "The White House." President Obamas Fiscal 2010 Budget. Transforming and Modernizing America’s Health Care System. 2009b. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fy2010_key_healthcare/ (accessed September 18, 2009). Wingfield, Brian. "Forbes." Where ObamaCare Goes From Here. September 9, 2009. http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/09/obamacare-congress-obama-business-healthcare-prexy.html?feed=rss_business (accessed September 18, 2009). Read More