Wednesday, September 9, 2009

rough draft= final draft?

There are a few quotes that I would like to bring up reguarding the Address to Congress.

The first:
"It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don't. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government".

While this quote sounds amazing, and the "ideal plan" for the country, I don't think it will exactly work out that way. Sure, there will be security from insurance carriers dropping you and that will cause stability, but what I want to know is: how will this be paid for? As seen in After the Fact's USDA article, just because a bill starts out one way, there is no indication that a bill will end up that way because during the "process" that a bill must go throguh in the Senate and then House, when there is always the ability to make changes to the bill. The question is how many changes there will be.
Providing insurance to people who don't have it is a great idea, but there is a reason that people who don't have insurance now- dont have it. Take illegal immigrants for instance, they don't have insurance becuase one, they can't afford it, and two if they applied for insurance, they would obviously have to show proof of citizenship. Since the taxpayers are the people who have to pay for the insurance under this new, united health care plan (mainly the middle class tax payers) I don't feel, being a citizen of the middle class, that I, who has a job and does pay taxes, should have to pay for these people who are here illegally and don't contribute to the 'pot' of money that the funding for insurance would be coming out of. 1. I dont think there will be enough funds under the current plan to support it and 2. the illegal immigrant numbers will rise- since there is no control over the borders- causing taxes to rise and eventually taxpayers will not make enough money after taxes to be able to do anything else other than pay taxes. Now, I do realize that illegal immigrants aren't the only people who don't have insurance, and they are not indiviually responsible for these problems, but I do use them as an example to strengthen my arugment.
What I dont understand is the last sentence in the quote. If costs are supposed to drop becasue more and more people get on insurance and competition to get the peoples' business causes the prices drop, will this bill or "reform plan" stay how Obama wants it to, or will committees in the House change the bill just as committees in After the Fact did.


The point that I'm trying to make with the first quote is: this sounds great, in the beginning, but will the final bill that is signed into law actually look like this, or will it be so distorted and changed that it will not resemble this at all?

The second:
"While there remain some significant details to be ironed out, I believe a broad consensus exists for the aspects of the plan I just outlined: consumer protections for those with insurance, an exchange that allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, and a requirement that people who can afford insurance get insurance".

This talk of "details" bothers me because these "detials" are not just details, they aren't just detials in a bill that people don't hear about or don't notice in day to day life. These details are the foundation and everything built upon the new health care reform. These details are essential to the reform because the details are the reform. Without explanations and guidelines and everything else included in the bill- the details..., you do not have reform and you do not have a bill. This broad consensus that he speaks of sounds good- but will the broad consensus now be the same consensus after the bill is passed? This exchange that allows indivuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, will coverage actually be affordable to people under the final version of the bill. Will the small businesses have more interference from the government? Will small businesses get more attention from the government under this new bill? Will insurance be required to non-American citizens as well as American citizens. Will the government change thier views on what consitutes an American citizen all because they want every individual to have health insurance.
Everything Obama talks about sounds wonderful, but the question is how is he going to pay for it, who exactly will be required to have insurance, and once again- will the final bill resemble the rough draft of the bill that he wants to pass now?

The third:
"Add it all up, and the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over ten years".

Once again, and i feel as though im beating a horse dead by now. This is what Obama says that he is proposing, but just because the president proposes something, doesnt meant that the Senate and then House will agree with the bill. The other politicians might want to change the cost to more or less or even add to the deficit even though Obama claims that he won't.

To conclude, the point that I'm trying to make is this: Everything said in Obama's speech is what Obama wants. Just because Obama wants something passed into law doesn't mean that it will be. I am not convinced because there are too many shades of gray, too many things that haven't been yet worked out in Congress. There are too many questions, more than I have asked in this entry, that have not yet been answered. So I leave you with this question:

Will the final draft, the law that is passed look anything like the one Obama wants, the rough draft?

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