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Answer:
President Obama's Health Care Plan
A read of the entirety of the original text ( over a hundred thousand characters long) as passed by congress reveals there are several Key points of most pertinence. This contribution is an attempt to condense and address only the key elements.
The act as passed would seem to have the primary intent of insuring that all Americans regardless of socioeconomic class or income level purchase some minimum form of medical Insurance. It does not provide free health care nor free health insurance
Basically the law compels the purchase of medical insurance coverage, much the same way your state law currently compels Financial responsibility for use of an automobile. The exception is that those who qualify for coverage through the SSA via Retirement or Disability through Medicare are not required to purchase.
This is proposed to be accomplished by some main factors.
The act as passed would seem to have the primary intent of insuring that all Americans regardless of socioeconomic class or income level purchase some minimum form of medical Insurance. It does not provide free health care nor free health insurance
Basically the law compels the purchase of medical insurance coverage, much the same way your state law currently compels Financial responsibility for use of an automobile. The exception is that those who qualify for coverage through the SSA via Retirement or Disability through Medicare are not required to purchase.
This is proposed to be accomplished by some main factors.
Pros -
1. Mandate to Purchase
A mandate that All Americans purchase Health Insurance. It will be a misdemeanor offense for a live legal resident person to be found uninsured.
2. Fines and Collection (IRS)
Misdemeanor Penalties (Fines). The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the designated Collection Agent (Collector). The fines will be automatically imposed upon annual Federal Tax filing and added to your Tax bill if no Health insurance plan has been acquired for any person on the tax return including listed dependents.
3. Guarantee for Pre-existing conditions
A requirement that Insurance companies not deny coverage to person for an existing medical condition.
4. State Exchange Mandate
A requirement that the States each set up an insurance Exchange to facilitate the placement of Insurance for those who can not obtain coverage on the open market.
5. Minimum Coverage Requirement
The establishment of a national minimum standard for coverage allowed on a Medical Insurance Policy.
6. Employer Mandate
A mandate that commercial entities who employ over 50 persons as employees provide an avenue to purchase coverage through the employer.
7. Quality of Care
The only gleaned mechanism for the improvement in the quality of health care services rendered is contained in a subsection that stiffens penalties for Health care workers who have certain past offenses including drug possession on their record. These health care workers license to practice will be revoked.
8. Price
There is no price control mechanism found.
Cons -
1. Mandate to Purchase
The mandate does not require undocumented residents to purchase coverage. The undocumented (illegal) resident must still receive care under current regulations but the act offers no mechanism to enforce payment as it does on a legal resident or citizen. So these costs will continue to be passed to others.
2. Fines and Collection (IRS)
a. Fines will be collected regardless of whether a person has ever received care from a medical professional or even if that tax payer has never failed to pay a health care bill.
b. There is no exemption for people who pay there own bills, Self insure or use a medical savings account or other avenues to cover their own heath care costs.
c. There is no exception or defense for the poor, the indigent or the unemployed.
b. There is no exemption for people who pay there own bills, Self insure or use a medical savings account or other avenues to cover their own heath care costs.
c. There is no exception or defense for the poor, the indigent or the unemployed.
3. Employer Mandate
There is debate over the definition of a Small Business, Whether an small company that employees only 50 to 100 people can actually be expected to provide an affordable, effective health care plan.
Also there is debate over the effect on jobs and small business ability to hire new workers or to stay in business. Small businesses traditionally generate more than 70 percent annually of all new jobs created in the United states. It is argued that such a mandate could be a job killer that may cause an already high unemployment rate to get even worse.
Also there is debate over the effect on jobs and small business ability to hire new workers or to stay in business. Small businesses traditionally generate more than 70 percent annually of all new jobs created in the United states. It is argued that such a mandate could be a job killer that may cause an already high unemployment rate to get even worse.
4. Quality of Care
There would seem to be no address of quality of care beyond a crack down on health care workers. Some argue that such a crackdown could remove hundreds of thousands of workers from the industry resulting in an overall decrease in quality of care and a further shortage of available health care workers.
5. Price
There is no guarantee of lower premiums because there is no proven relationship showing that the price of health insurance is related to costs associated with the un-insured patient.
Many Americans have been erroneously informed that the cost of the un-insured patient is somehow passed on to them through increased premiums to the insured.
Many Americans have been erroneously informed that the cost of the un-insured patient is somehow passed on to them through increased premiums to the insured.
In reality, costs related to care for the un-insured patient are simply not payable by an insurance company because they are un-insured. These costs are actually covered by local hospital district taxes of the tax paying residents of the associated tax district along with state and federal tax funding and is not reflected in the cost of an insureds health insurance policy.
So, although there is no reason to expect a decrease in health insurance premiums, there is reason to believe that there will be reduced tax burden on those Americans who pay hospital district taxes as well as savings to state and Federal budgets through reduced subsidizing of state medical facilities and local district hospitals. Whether these savings on the local, state and federal budgets will be passed back to the citizenry through reduced taxes has not been addressed.
This contribution is an attempt to address the question with both schools of thought. It's been several months since the read of the text, So please feel free to add or contribute, edit inacuracies, add additional input pros and or cons.
This is a very complex issue deserving of the broadest possible input.
This is a very complex issue deserving of the broadest possible input.
Answer
Obama's health care plan is to:1. Lower the overall quality for most American's (280 million)
2. Raise taxes to lower their health care
3. Get 12 million more people on some plan that they are not currently on. Most of these newly insured are illegal aliens.
4. Provide $400 billion in cuts to Medicare
5. Ration care to the 280 million that have coverage
6. Limit and lower salaries of health care professionals
7. Fine people for not having health care.
These are the positives that are currently offered. There is some question as to how they plan on rationing future health care. This includes death panels that decide who would be eligible for transplants or cancer treatment.
The most positive side of the current plan is that we should be able to balance the social security budget by not allowing elderly the treatment they now receive. It is unfortunate that I am soon to be one of those that will be on the negative side of this plan.
Contributor:
Chicken
Chicken
First answer by ID1198011064.
Last edit by Insurance Plus.
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