Has the Obama Health Care Law Affected Floridians For the Better or the Worst - Essay Example

Has the Obama Health Care Law Affected Floridian’s For the Better or the Worst? Has the Obama Health Care Law Affected Floridians For the Better orthe Worst? March 2010 should come to be known as the year that the healthcare system of America died. The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act has proven to be neither protective of patient interests nor has the program made healthcare more affordable to many. Instead, the program served to make healthcare much more expensive for everyone concerned. The law was passed by a Democrat controlled legislative house and, although they try to deny it, definitely pays tremendous lip service to the insurance lobbyist groups that clearly had a hand in the drafting and finalizing of this law. Under the PPAC, the American health insurance sector became a mandatory and dictatorial part of each and every persons life. Health care is no longer optional and anyone who dares to defy the law will be duly punished. The law has been viewed by many to be unconstitutional and a violation of basic human rights. That is why state legislative houses across the country have been doing their best to repeal the law on the state level. One of the states that has been trying to repeal the PPAC because of the far reaching negative effects that it has on the overall population of the state is Florida, under the able leadership of Gov. Rick Scott. In Florida, a state which houses a large number of retirees, 80 % of the retiree population will be looking at higher insurance coverage costs as Obama-care as the PPAC has come to be known, forces the Floridians to purchase health insurance coverage that they either do not need or does not totally apply to their medical needs according to Rajasekhar (2010). The main problem with Obama-care is that even though the legislators had the best intention of the people at heart, they neglected to take the individual needs of every state in their drafting of the law. Most of Floridas population is comprised of retirees who rely mostly on Medicare and Medicaid for their health insurance coverage. Obama-care promised to provide cost savings to the Floridians. However, Rajasekhar (2010) explains that what happened instead is that the law carved out $529 Medicare savings that instead got funneled into other, more expensive health care projects. Such a move cannot serve to benefit the poor Floridians who will be forced to take on Medicaid coverage instead. Gov. Scott, backed by the state legislative body decided to challenge the Obama-care law in the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on the basis that the government should not and cannot dictate the kind of medical insurance coverage and the cost of the coverage that shall be shouldered by the insured. Gov. Scott believes that each person should be free to choose his insurance coverage and how much he is willing to pay for it. Having the government mandate compulsory insurance coverage is dictatorial and goes totally against the freedom that Americas enjoy. Floridians lead the fight in repealing Obama-care. According to Christopher (2011), the argument that Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is presenting before the supreme court is that Obama-care as a law is unconstitutional because Congress does not have the power to “... mandate that citizens buy anything. A hundred years or more of precedent says that the Constitution gives broad powers to Congress to federally regulate society and enforce fees in all matters of commerce and national interest. “ Long before Obama-care was passed, in 2009 to be precise, Floridians had already made public their dislike and distrust of the soon to come healthcare program. Padrino (2009) explains that in a poll taken at the time, “the poll found that by a margin of 48% to 34%, Floridians believe that the Obamacare proposals will hurt, rather than help, the economy.” It is impossible for a law like Obama-care to help the Floridians because it takes away their right to choose. If they are forced to buy insurance under the new law, they lose the right to use their own preferred doctor, cannot have medical tests that they need if it is not covered by insurance, and just basically, tells the people that the government is in charge of their health. Whether they live or die is no longer in the hands of their medical professional but rather, in the hands of the government. Thankfully, Gov. Scott has the best welfare of Floridians at heart. That is why he chose to act in order to protect the residents of the state of Florida. Even if it means that he will be blackballed in Washington politics. He has refused to enact any movements that will create any foundation for the implementation of Obama-care in the state by the year 2013. The bad news is that by not playing ball with the big guys in Washington, Gov. Scott has chosen to play with fire and in the end, the people of Florida might get burned. According to Wolverton (2011) Gov. Scott has refused to accept $1 million in federal money that has been earmarked for his state in order to set up the Obama-care programs in Florida. According to those claiming to be in the know over at The Palm Beach Post (2011); “Gov. Scott and the GOP-led Legislature have put at risk the physical health of Floridians and the fiscal health of the state by rejecting or declining to pursue more than $106 million in federal grants tied to the Affordable Care Act. Nearly $1 million of that money was for a program that aids in cancer prevention and increases access to quality care for cancer patients.” Gov. Scott is clearly trying to send a message to Washington by refusing to take the multimillion dollar federal grants. Just like all the other Floridians who believe in his ideology, the government must never be allowed to meddle, nor mandate, that which should be left as a personal preference of the individuals of the state. Those who support the government healthcare policy however, would like the Floridians to believe that their governor is playing Russian Roulette with their health by refusing the federal grant. Although it is true that the money the government is offering could help much of Floridas poor to gain access to certain healthcare benefits, the problem is that there is no assurance that they will get the kind of healthcare they actually need under the new program. Gov. Scott, who is being portrayed by the Democrats as the Devils advocate in this case clearly explains in Wolvertons (2011) article that the Obama-care law once enacted, will only serve to hurt the Floridians because , a year later, he remains convinced that: “Obamacare is bad for patients, businesses and taxpayers. This ill-conceived policy will force Florida to spend an additional $12.8 billion on Medicaid and add an additional 2.1 million Floridians to Medicaid. Eliminating patient choice, rationing care and implementing the largest tax hikes in American history are just the beginning of the federal mandate’s consequences. “ Thankfully, Floridas federal judges understand the constitution better than the people whom Obama hired to get this law passed. They declared that Obama-care is unconstitutional and void because no law can mandate that people buy health insurance (Seidl, 2011). So, it looks like the Floridians may still be saved from the clutches of Obama-care, all that is needed is for the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the said ruling when Florida comes before them come March 2012 (Sunshine Slate, 2011), the first year anniversary of the healthcare mandate. References Christopher, M. (2011). U.S. Supreme Court to hear Floridas challenge to health care reform. Sunshine Slate. Retrieved from http://www.sunshineslate.com/2011/11/22/u-s-supreme-court-to-hear-floridas- challenge-to-health-care-reform/ Opinion Staff. (2011). Is Florida wrong to refuse healthcare law money?. The Palm Beach Post Blogs. Retrieved from http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/opinionzone/2011/11/25/is-florida-wrong-to- refuse-health-care-law-money/ Padrino, B. (2009). Floridians reject Obamacare and the horse she rode in on. examiner.com. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/republican-in- orlando/floridians-reject-obamacare-and-the-horse-she-rode-on Rajasekhar, V. (2010). Side effects: Floridians will lose Medicare advantage. Fix Health Care Policy. Retrieved from http://fixhealthcarepolicy.com/health-care-news/side- effects-floridians-will-lose-medicare-advantage/ Seidl, J. (2011). Florida federal judges rule entire healthcare law unconstitutional. The Blaze. Retrieved from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/federal-florida-judge-rules- obamacare-individual-mandate-unconstitutional/ Wolverton, J. (2011). Floridas governor defiant: I will not enforce Obamacare. New American. Retrieved from http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/6857- floridas-governor-defiant-i-will-not-enforce-obamacare Read More