Obama’s Healthcare Plan Hangs In The Balance…
August 22, 2009
…while President Obama goes on vacation. It is not going to be easy to pass the healthcare reform bill by Autumn. The plan aims to insure the uninsured in the U.S. – 47 million of them. In addition the aim is also to drive down the spiraling healthcare costs. The Republicans look like they are opposing the bill and not all Democrats are supporting it either.
The Democratic party has two wings and one is convinced that only government intervention can solve the problem while the other one believes otherwise. Only a compromise between these two factions can lead to the passing of the bill. Some believe that the high cost of proposed healthcare reform is the problem. The solution is to reduce the inefficiencies in healthcare.
The people in the Democratic party who are opposed to President Obama’s plan are called the “Blue Dogs.” Many people distrust the government’s new plan because it resembles communism. Many people see the Obama plan as the only option because it aims to insure all the uninsured.
The solution that seems to be appearing from the studies is to nip the problem in the bud. Allow people to detect problems in early stages so that costs on medication are reduced. Also motivating people to remain healthy seems to be the solution.
Various Perspectives in the Health Care Debate
August 9, 2009
The health care debate has various aspects to it. The debate is become more about what say the government should have in medical matters. While the debate is focusing about this issue, the important practical considerations are being overlooked. Both sides agree that patients need more consumer protection so that they should be able to get insurance cover for a treatable, costly illness.
The bill will be able to protect consumers, whether they have cancer or high cholesterol. The medical history would not be the major deciding factor for charging premiums although companies could charge people above fifty years of age more than they charge those in their twenties.
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What Makes Health Care Reform So Critical
August 8, 2009
Economic growth. Health care reform is a key factor in economic growth according to many including President Barack Obama. This is the reason Obama has promised to implement health care reform by the end of the year. The aim of the reform is to protect people from unfair business practices. In addition every American needs to be provided quality, affordable insurance. This will bring down rising costs and skyrocketing family budgets.
Obama said that health insurance reform was higher than national politics – it was about the well being of the American people. Reform would not only give the 46 million people who did not have insurance what they lacked but would also give security and stability to the insured.
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The Health Insurance War
August 3, 2009
At stakes in the health insurance war is public good. It is the luxury of a few people against the necessity of the nation. The health insurance industry has profited at the expense of the people it insures. These people have lived in luxury and the people who were insured have often been denied insurance when they most needed it.
The facts are that H. Edward Hanway (Cigna Insurance) makes more in a day than the average American makes in a year. He will be retiring with $73 million. The world is in recession but the health insurance industry is still way up in the green.
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Are we heading to a “sicker” future?
March 22, 2009
As unemployment is rising, insurance coverage is falling. As many people are not insuring themselves, we are heading to a future with more emergency room admissions. Are we heading to a sicker future?
When you lose a job, you miss many aspects of it. You may miss your work, colleagues or the drive to and from work. But what many people are now missing about their jobs is their health insurance. Once taken for granted, health insurance become a necessity and your realize it only after the job is gone. Read more
Health Insurance Company Strategies
March 15, 2009
People from the health insurance industry have been viewed negatively for a long time. The reasons for this are public knowledge. These are denial of coverage and refusal to pay for treatment. Now the people of the health insurance industry are looking to cast themselves in the mould of indispensable partners in health care overhaul.
They are now pitching to lawmakers saying that they can help ensure universal coverage by getting rid of waste and help improve quality. Beyond loud language these people are now beginning to come up with concrete ideas for quality improvement and value.
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Obama’s Big Plan Draws Flak
March 14, 2009
In his effort to reform all the American systems, President Obama has created a number of different routes to solution. Whether the plans will yield fruit is debatable, but for now many of them are drawing flak. The latest among such plans is a big new public health insurance program that has been envisioned by Obama. This plan is a bone of contention.
Details of the proposal have not been released by the White House or the Congressional Democrats. There is dissaproval among some Republicans as well as people in the insurance industry about whether the plan would be good for the system even before the details of the plan have been released. Socialized medicine is the term that is being given to these moves by President Barack Obama.
Lack of student insurance
March 9, 2009
The 2009 Statistical Abstract of the United States says that 30 percent of the surveyed 18 to 24 year olds were without health insurance. In college health care needs have to be paid out of the pocket. A typical case might be that the parents dropped their offspring from a plan and they never got back on. As a student with only a part time job, good medical insurance may be hard to come by.
Many students can only afford a low quality plan and that leads to the question of whether the insurance is really required. And that is the bottom line, often students cannot afford insurance. Many students arrive in hospitals and one third of those do not own health insurance.
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Shop Health Insurance in the Mall
March 8, 2009
The number of uninsured Americans is increasing. In this environment, the largest Health Insurance company in the country is finding success with a new idea. The new idea is direct sales of insurance to people through retail stores.
The typical insurance store could well be confused for a mobile phone store from the outside. The storefront is friendly and it is well located in a new shopping plaza. When you take a peek inside you would be a little surprised to see that the goods being sold is insurance for your health.
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Forced Private Health Insurance?
January 18, 2009
Nicola Roxon, Federal Health Minister made an accusation that people with low incomes were being forced to pay private health insurance by the federal opposition. Malcolm Turnbull the Opposition Leader felt that everyone should have private health insurance, she said. This means that pensioners, veterans, and every family need to have private health insurance no matter what.
Former PM John Howard’s government had spent so much time in office attacking public hospitals. Now the opposition liberals were engaged in getting everyone to have private health insurance. It was made clear by the Rudd Government, that people who could afford, should contribute more. That is the health insurance news from Australia.
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Private Health Insurance: End Of The Road?
January 18, 2009
Private Health Insurance companies have made billions by unethical means, by not doing what they were supposed to be doing. Health Net is a company that is a stark example of this. Employees of this company were rewarded based on the number of individual policyholders that could be dropped from the rolls of the insured thus saving the company tons of money.
They have paid for it however in hundreds of millions of dollars in fines as well as court settlements. The man behind this scam Jay Gellert is the new chairman of America’s health insurance plans, which lobbies for private insurance companies. Private insurance companies just don’t want to compete with a public health insurance plan that would hold them accountable and keep their dealings honest.
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Child Health Coverage Expansion Recieves Nod
January 18, 2009
If you are one of those whose children need health insurance, you may be in for some solace. There are 4 mn uninsured children today in the US. The US house of reps this week voted in fovor of approving the Childrnes Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act to expand as well as renew SCHIP. SCHIP is the State Childrens Health Insurance Plan.
Now 11 mn children will be covered under SCHIP as opposed to 7 mn currently. The annual cost currently is $25 billion. Cigarette taxes will be increased by 61 percent to pay for the increase in the SCHIP costs.
All Americans Insured Is A Possibility Without A Significant Spending Increase
January 11, 2009
If you carefully analyze Obama’s proposal for health care, you will realise that it is possible to see all Americans insured without a major rise in spending. 15 percent of Americans amounting to 46 million people do not have health insurance. Americans pay more money per person for health care than other industrialized countries. Notwithstanding this, Americans have poorer health, encounter more medical mistakes and also are more unhappy with their health care services than other industrialized countries.
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Obama Team Grassroots Meetings
January 4, 2009
The meetings of the Obama Team with the common man are aimed at creating a health care sytem that is of the people, for the people and by the people. In Columbia, more than 200 people convened recently. Huge email lists are being used to mobilize people to transform health care and other national priorities by getting their ink on paper.
It is a good thing to see a successful campaign getting back to its roots to take that success further. Another aim of these meetings is to build the enthusiasm for change in the people. These meetings are also being attended by Obama’s team members, not all of them of course.
The origins of the meeting are Democratic, but Republicans were invited as well. The effort to solicit ideas has been commended. The people in America getting sick are Americans before being Democrats or Republicans. People believe Obama can bring change through Consensus.
Often health care problems related to lack of funds are circular issue and the funds don’t come in till the health care problems are solved. All this requires a lot of brainstorming to arrive at a solution to these problems.
Stimulus Plan to Expand Health Insurance
December 14, 2008
Having health insurance is as important as having food and shelter and this is why President elect Barack Obama is working on a new plan to act as a stimulus to health insurance. The 500 mn plan is on next month as part of the economic recovery legislation. The argument is that the billions of dollars spent on a number of health programs will benefit the economy as a whole.
