Introduction

When Barrack Obama was elected as the leader of the free world, and the President of the United States of America, he talked extensively of change, particularly of health care reform and why it was necessary. As a result, this is an exciting time for health care reform in the United States because, no matter how some people call it too little, or too much, something is happening.

With so many different points of view of what is going on, it is an unfortunate fact that a lot of the real information gets hidden in the ‘muck. As a result, this paper is going to establish an overall, unbiased, account of just what it is that the new health care reform legislation entails, and what it means for the average American.

There are several take on what it means, but few people really have an understanding of what the new law is going to accomplish and how it is going to change the system; that has to change. People generally fear, and hate, what they do not comprehend, as such, the only way to find common ground and reach for the good of all Americans is to eliminate misunderstanding through enlightenment.

Summary of Proposal

“As the hotly contested health- overhaul law turns one year old”, “it faces major political hurdles before its biggest features are slated to take effect in 2014,” (Gerencher, 2010).  “The landmark law already has delivered significant benefits to many Americans, but 53% of people surveyed say they’re confused about it, nearly the same portion as a year ago when it first passed, (Gerencher, 2010). The ultimate issue is that people simply do not understand what the law entails for them personally.

A few of the items on the bill that people are more aware of include an expansion of the Medicare program as well as an extension of the age limit that allows for children to remain on their parents insurance. Still, the Act does much more than that.

Additionally, the National Health Care Act works to eliminate the private insurance companies, so that all that remains are public and non- profit organization, for the majority of basic care. That is to say that the government is trying to limit how high insurance rates are allowed to rise so that the services everyone needs can remain affordable; at least to a greater extent.

Also going hand- in- hand with is the expansion of places one is allowed to use their insurance. Before the act was proposed, and summarily enacted, insurance companies limited the doctors that one could visit when they were in need of physician care. Now, as the act moves into total application insurance will be applicable to any publicly- funded clinic, hospital, etc…

One of the aspects greatly misunderstood by the majority of Americans involves finances. There will now be strict prohibition of money making deals, or ‘schemes,’ between physicians and, for example, HMO providers.

So too, included in the Act is a portion that makes it illegal to have an insurance company attempt to charge for any service which the Act mandates as free. That is to say, the government is attempting to limit duplicating coverage at the expense of innocent, uninformed, Americans. Additionally, however, they are allowed, some might even say encouraged, to privately insure medically unnecessary procedures, cosmetic alterations, for example.

Of course, there have to be ways to pay for all of these changes to the system; the obvious answer is going to be taxes. What those affected need to be made aware of, however, is that those taxes are not simply going to be imposed on everyone. Instead, an additional tax will be placed on top earners in the nation, certain stock transactions, etc… Clearly there is also going to be a re- routing of funds from other health care programs into the new budget for this act, as well as, certain, already existing, health taxes will be applied to the program in lieu of insurance premiums.

There are some other allocations, sections that attempt to help keep unemployed peoples insured, as well as making public records widely accessible across medical facilities but also confidential. Additionally, there are a few other inclusions with the Act which are minor, like the eventual inclusion of the Indian Health Services.

Clearly the new United States Heath Care Act is working to make several changes in the system. It makes sense as the United States of America is the last developed actor within the international system to have some sort of government involvement in public health care. Still, there are going to be profound ramifications like access, cost, and quality; all of which are area that deserve to be explained and evaluated.

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