HealthCare Reform in America - Essay Example

HEALTHCARE REFORM IN THE UNITED S Barack Obama, the first African-American President in the history of the United s, was recently ushered in on a wave of promise and a desire to enact thorough changes to the United States in a variety of social, economic and political realms. Inheriting an economic crisis with global ramifications, a seemingly never ending war in Iraq and a healthcare system desperately in need of reform, President’s Obama’s attempts at completely overhauling healthcare in the United States have recently landed his administration in hot water. Accordingly, his attempts at healthcare reform have arguably been the most controversial aspects of his early presidency. Seeking to address the issues at stake, the following will provide a concise overview, from three different perspectives, of the issues surrounding the President’s plan to fundamentally transform healthcare in America today. What are the options, who are the stakeholders, where are the priorities, how can this issue be resolved? Seeking to address these questions and many more with respect to American healthcare reform, the following aims to provide a holistic analysis of a relevant phenomenon. This issue remains important because it will affect all Americans and will set a precedent with respect to healthcare provision in America today. Generally speaking, there are three different positions that form possible responses to the controversial United States national healthcare plan. In the United States, health insurance coverage ensures that there is financial means by which basic health care can be accessed. Individual comprehensive health insurance plans depend on an individuals’ age, level of employment, residency, and race/ethnicity. Medicare is a federal government funded insurance program for disabled young adults, persons above the age of 65, and those with permanent disabilities who become eligible for Social Security. A racial difference in coverage among Medicare beneficiaries has also been found to influence difference in supplemental care. Most individuals rely on private healthcare plans for the coverage that they need and the Obama administration is seeking to implement a single payer government system of healthcare as part of his reform package as opposed to market-based reform. Proponents of the healthcare overhaul argue that there are important disparities in access to healthcare and that the present system is not egalitarian. Accordingly, these people point out that certain groups do not receive the same level of care as others. They point out racial and ethnic disparities in access to healthcare and that African-Americans generally have poor healthcare in this country and subsequently a lower life expectancy. The priorities of those who follow this line of argument are based upon alleviating the present discrepancies in American healthcare and thus totally commendable (Smedley et al. 2003; Reuters, 2009). On the other side of the equation are others who are skeptical of the President’s healthcare plan. Viewing healthcare as an important issue in America but not one which requires a complete federally-funded overhaul, people in the middle understand President Obama’s desire to tackle issues but feel that the plan may be too heavy-handed. Accordingly, these people do not understand how a $1 trillion USD healthcare plan can be financed. The government argues that through reorganization of federal budgets and by cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government healthcare programs”, as well as ending government subsidies to private healthcare providers, the reform will finance itself. People in the middle are skeptical of this argument and feel that the reform will add significantly to the US deficit. The priorities of people who fall into this category are focused upon the costs associated with national healthcare in the United States and making sure that the government does not increase spending haphazardly (White House, 2009). At the other end of the spectrum, those who are against President Obama’s plan see the $1 trillion USD transformation of healthcare as socialism and an attempt by Washington to meddle in the affairs of its citizens. There are many arguments against healthcare reform and they are tied to individual choice and freedom. Liberty is a basic concept in the United States which has been at the forefront of political thinking since the days of the founding fathers; the rights of the individual to choose should not be superseded by an activist government which seeks to limit choice and the options available to tax paying Americans. Patients should have the right to choose their own doctors and their own healthcare plans. Standardizing healthcare throughout the country will only complicate matter, lessen choice and give more money to Big Brother to make choices for American citizens. Inefficiencies will result and people will die. Socialized medicine has not worked in Great Britain or Canada so why should we think that it will work here? It may not. Accordingly, the priorities of those who fall under this category are based upon the conception that government intrusion in the lives of Americans is dangerous and must be limited. Accordingly, Republicans and libertarians alike tend to prioritize small government (BBC, 2009; Reuters, 2009). The stakeholders involved in the controversial attempts to overhaul the American healthcare system include members of the medical community, insurers, politicians and the average American citizen. Everyone has an important stake in the future of American healthcare. Attempts to administer a federally financed national healthcare system for more than 330 million Americans will be wrought with controversy and inefficiencies inherent in a nationally financed system. Healthcare in the United States is a choice which is fundamentally based upon the concepts of freedom and personal liberty which we as Americans hold so dear to our hearts. Socialized medicine will limit choice as well as the personal freedom to choose our healthcare practitioners. Personal health will and efficiencies will be the result of a system which is overseen by Washington. The proposed healthcare changes represent a fundamental overhaul to healthcare in America and despite what the White House says, these changes will cost taxpayers billions of dollars. We cannot afford an inefficient system when people’s lives are at stake. The proposed healthcare changes must be opposed because they are anti-American and doomed to destroy healthcare in America. References Health Insurance Reform. (2009). The White House. Last Accessed Dec 1 2009 http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/ Obama vows to pass healthcare reform. (2009). Reuters. Wed Aug 5, 2009. Last Accessed Dec 1 2009 http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56M0HE20090805 Protests over Obama health reform. (2009). BBC.com. Last Accessed Dec 1 2009 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8252939.stm Smedley, B. D., A. Y. Stith, & A. R. Nelson (editors). 2003. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press Read More