Term Paper on "Obama Care Plan Health"

Term Paper 10 pages (3278 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

According to Congressional Budget Office the plan will help reduce deficit by a startling $138 million over ten years (Health Care Reform, 2012). Although the statistics are subject to debate but the new plan ensures that costs are not distributed evenly but the plan actually helps in curbing the overspending crisis currently present in this particular industry. By cutting on the deficit our modern citizens can use money from bank at lower prices and bridging the deficit will help in improving the economic and employment status in the country.

Another extension of this argument is that Obama's plan helps curtail overpayment to insurers. In Bush's administration overpayment was of such nature that insurers were being subsidized for which the economy got nil benefits in return. By saving on the Medicare costs the government can explore the possibilities of spending the saved amount on welfare projects.

It is argued that "80,000 people a year are killed just by "nosocomial infections" -- infections that arise as a result of medical treatment" (Health Care Reform in the United States). Such arguments are tenuous by nature and cannot be linked to the expanded health care coverage especially under Obama's plan where preventative measures form the core of the insurance coverage. These measures include reducing the rate of hospitalization, re-hospitalization and also improving the prevention efforts in the patient's setting. Opponents to the plan quote Rand's study that increasing the generosity of the people's health insurance made no impact on the general situation of the health status. However, the findings seem to point to the contrary. "The poorest and sickest 6% of the sample at the start of the experiment had better outcomes under the free plan for 4 of the 30 conditions measured. Specifically, •Free care improved the control of hypertension. The poorest patients in the free care group who entered the experiment with hypertension saw greater reductions in blood pressure than did their counterparts with cost sharing. The projected effect was about a 10% reduction in mortality for those with hypertension. •Free care marginally improved vision for the poorest patients. •Free care also increased the likelihood among the poorest patients of receiving needed dental care. Serious symptoms were less prevalent for poorer people on the free plan. •Cost sharing also had some beneficial effects. Participants in cost sharing plans worried less about their health and had fewer restricted-activity days (including time spent in seeking medical care) (The health insurance experiment)."

In spite of all the pros discussed above there are a few points to be discussed about the bill. It is argued that one of the goals of the plan is cut on the development taking within the industry and to curb the process of new medications and technologies because they are driving up the costs of health care (McCaughey, 2009). Hence, the plan has more to it than may appear, by seeking deficit cuts and expansion of healthcare the authorities are actually trying to cut on the developments that may provide medications for various illnesses and fatal diseases which might also me cost effective in nature. By trying to control the reins of this industry the government planned procedure might prove to be a thorn in medical breakthroughs.

The bill is going to affect every individual living in the United States. Medical treatments will get tracked electronically by the federal system; such trackers will prove to be useful for records can help eliminate duplicate tests and errors. However, the bill takes a step forward when it gives birth to a new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information. This bureaucracy will oversee the treatments being handed out by the doctors and it can intervene when and where it deems fit to ensure that the treatment is not only appropriate but cost effective. However, in modern times when medicine has broken down barriers and has advanced in many respects it is quite unfitting on the part of the government to intervene in matters such as these. This is the age of specialization and who else than a doctor can recommend and hand out better treatments (McCaughey, 2009).

Daschle argues that the health care reform will "not be pain free." Old aged people (baby boomers generation) should be more receptive to the idea of them being ill rather than focus on the treatment. Hence, elderly should bear the brunt. Before the Obama's plan came into being, Medicare paid for all such related treatments, the new bill changes all that. This means that when it comes to caring for elderly, the young generation will be given a preference over them. The Obama's plan can be likened to UK board. According to this health board elderly patient facing macular degeneration had to wait until him or her got blinded in one eye and then would receive treatment to save the other eye. Being elderly cannot be considered as a burden on the state. America is a welfare state and should cater to the needs of the citizens regardless of age or class. Age and class (See Appendix A and B) are the two most significant factors into play when we consider the healthcare reforms and their impact on the new generation and the baby boomers generation of 60's and 70's (McCaughey, 2009).

All in the entire bill needs more scrutiny and should not be applied without considerations being taken into account. It must be remembered that the health care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. And produces around 17% of the Gross Domestic Product. Instead of treating it as a cost problem it should also be treated as a growth industry. What would happen if you limit the growth and creativity in the fields of electronic or defense per se. The limiting of health industry in this manner is a threat not only to the industry itself but to the entire economy in general (McCaughey, 2009).

The world in which we live in today speaks of liberty and freedom. Although the patient is the central figure and the decision maker in this particular industry the new plan offers a paternalistic view of the situation. Patients are capable and adults enough to make decisions regarding their health while the children are taken care of by their respective parents and guardians hence there should not be an another figure or authority to dictate terms to them when it comes to matters as personal as one's own health care . The authorities can work in guiding capacity but cannot direct citizens directly. Considering that patients have ownership of their health resource resources and choice over how to use them will also increase the demand for transparency. Transparency regarding issues such as cost and quality of services can be dealt much better this way .

If the healthcare plan does plan on extending healthcare coverage it should do so by providing financial support to those that are deprived of such services instead of limiting and restricting their actions by the introduction of price controls and mandates. The government can work in guiding capacity and help patients get all the information they need and then let them decide on what plan they want. Limitations like the ones in Obama's plan are not universal, what is best fit for one is not best fit for others. Human beings and each individual have different needs and different resources at their disposal; this diversity is what makes us human .

Hence the end goal of the government should not be designing health care schemes which seem to provide for all individuals via same mechanism. Hence, they should rather focus on providing for those and aiding those that have insufficient resources to go for health care themselves but though 'indirect' means .

The paper discussed the Obamacare in detail focusing on the positives and the negatives of this new plan. Though the plans seek cost effective and expansive health coverage for American citizens and focuses on provision of health care for poor and jobless it treats the healthcare as a public good. Government has brought it upon itself to provide for it due to the market inefficiencies. Though market failures do exist and there is a concentration of healthcare provisions in the hands of few but in matters such as these the government cannot impose its decisions on the people living within the territories. This is the epoch of liberal democracy and America portrays itself as the champion of democracy. By dictating the healthcare terms to its citizens government takes any liberty and freedom its citizens should have while deciding on issues such as healthcare and insurance plans. Individuals may choose to not accept any insurance plan because they do not have the resources or may not feel the need to subscribe to any such plan. It might be a plan made with good intentions but rather than enforcing it onto the populace the government should work in facilitating capacity and should rather provide… READ MORE

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