Blog 5.3

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29703278/

According to a recent New York Times article, the Obama administration is open to taxing health benefits to help with the health care overhaul.  This, I must admit, angers me because immediately when I read this, I thought about the campaign and what Obama had promised.  It was Obama who said he was strongly against the idea of this; he even highly criticized McCain for wanting to tax health benefits.  This is especially bad news for unions and some businesses.  I was and still am a big supporter of President Obama; however, I am disappointed that he would backtrack on promises from the campaign.  Something I did not know is that even during the campaign, some Obama supporters said he may come to regret his position.  It could potentially raise billions of dollars over ten years.  This would primarily affect employer-based insurance, which covers three fifths of the population under 65.  Critics say that it is unfair because it affects people of different income levels.  My personal assessment of this is that I want to see the “larger picture”—how this could help toward achieving universal health care over the long run.

Blog 5.2

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/16/health.care.survey.deloitte/index.html

This article is similar to a previous one that I did because it shows that the bad economy can actually lead to bad or worsened health.  According to the Deliotte Survey of Health Care Consumers, 24% of people polled did not seek medical care when they were sick or injured.  The largest subgroup of those, as could be expected, was the uninsured…at 36% percent.  The executive director of this independent research center says, “Costs are impacting the system.”  The study also showed there is a large dissatisfaction with the current health care system.  94% of those polled say that they think health care costs threaten their own financial security.  The abundance of options available to consumers is also “baffling” and confusing—there are several non-profits now trying to help families make the best choices with the best options.  I think this news is unfortunate because actually in the long run, it could be worse for the economy.  The longer that these people go uninsured, the higher chance emergency aid will be needed; paying for medication for things such as chronic illness is far cheaper over time.  I hope Obama’s decision making takes all of this news into account when attempting to reform the health care system.  

Blog 5.1

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/ap_on_go_pr_wh/health_overhaul_cost_14

This article is about the fact that a number has been reached by some policy experts as to how much it may cost to make universal health care in the United States a reality.  Essentially, the overhaul may cost upwards of $1.5 trillion over the next decade.  This number is, yes, huge—it is more than double what Barack calls his “down payment” set aside for health reform in his budget.  And because of the economy, it is difficult because more and more Americans are without or are losing their current health insurance.  The White House press secretary says that number could be exaggerated because “it is impossible to put a price tag on the plan before the basics have been finalized”.  While I will always stick by plans that lead to universal health care, this is certainly a worry for me.  And one reason, perhaps selfishly, that it is worrisome to me is that this expansion of health care is a “permanent reform”—thus, future generations will be have to provide the resources for it (aka my generation).  Reading an article like this sometimes brings me out of the clouds and back down to earth—accomplishing universal health care will be a hard process…but one we should no doubt pursue.

Blog 4.3

The title of this next article is what caught my attention: Obama’s “Un-Hillary” Health care Approach.  The first thing that Obama has going for him is that he is starting with agreement that there is a need for change in health care in the U.S.  So much has changed within the last 15 years since Hillary and fellow democrats attempted to make a crack at the current system.  Something that is really helping Obama’s case for health care is how it can all be brought back to the economy.  I do agree with this and think it is a smart move because people seem to be more interested and worried about the economy now than health care.  The more serious issues such as abortion, and others that go along with the subject, are sure to be brought up later.  He is specifically saying that addressing the problem of healthcare can “create jobs and rebuild the economy”.  Even some of those that helped “kill the Clinton administration’s overall of the health care system” are now showing interest in reforming it.  On Thursday there will be gathering of those to start a larger discussion intended to change the current politics of health care.  One more key difference between now and then is that reforming the system has gotten approval from many insurers, hospitals, and other key players…something, again, the Clinton administration lacked.  I am very pleased with all of this, and it gives me hope that during Obama’s first term, we will see tens of millions get health coverage.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/03/the-note-3509-h.html

Blog 4.2

A new study has come out that nearly 87 million people in the United States have been uninsured for the last two years.  That means that one out of three Americans were without health insurance at some point during that time.  Families USA is the one who conducted the study.  There were several other interesting findings: four out of the five of the uninsured were in working families and people without health insurance “are less likely to have a usual doctor and often go without screenings or preventative care”.  These figures are serious, and they cannot go ignored.  This week Obama plans to hold a health care summit at the White House because it is one of his top priorities.  The U.S. census came with numbers not too long ago (45.7 million uninsured), which were far less than those found by Families USA.  For that reason, critics say the findings are misleading.  

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/04/uninsured.epidemic.obama/index.html

Blog 4.1

The most important thing that happened over the past week regarding healthcare is that President Barack Obama did in fact tap Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.  As I have stated in the past, I am pleased with this woman, and I think she has the potential to do a terrific job with what I think is the most important part of the job: seeking to make sure universal healthcare becomes a reality.  On one CNN article, I thought it was interesting that it may not be her resume that will be the talk of her official confirmation (that is senate-approved like all Cabinet positions)—it is her stance on abortion.  Anti-abortion groups have already been making their views strong in the public.  In the article it states that religious conservatives could “use Sebelius as a warm-up for the seemingly inevitable fight” over abortion.  On the other end, Catholics United, a liberal group, has come to her defense saying that she has taken several steps in her own state to lower the abortion rate.  The Obama administration has made no specific mention of the issue, yet.  

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/02/sebelius.abortion.fight/index.html