The proposed health care reform is also expected to improve health outcomes. By shifting some of the focus of the system away from maximizing shareholder value and towards improving health outcomes, Americans should live longer, have better access to care, see improved quality of life and have lower mortality rates for a number of diseases.
In addition to providing better health care, the reform plan will have several positive economic impacts. The Boston Globe calculation (Bilmes & Day, 2009) determined that life lost due to inadequate insurance cost the U.S. economy $140 billion per year, less than the cost of the Obama health care plan. In addition, the high cost of health care insurance is a competitive disadvantage for American companies. It is one of the reasons why tens of thousands of automobile manufacturing jobs relocated from Michigan to Ontario, and now those jobs are starting to trickle to Mexico. It is estimated that the cost of health care for an American worker is now over $10,000 per year and this figure is expected to double within ten years (Arnst, 2009). Given that 99% of companies over 200 employees provide health insurance, it is clear that dropping coverage is not an option. A public health care option would help to lower the cost of employer health care, thereby reducing this competitive disadvantage (Dean, 2009).
These gains are not without cost. The $849 billion Senate plan represents an enormous amount of money. The U.S. economy is already struggling with the weight of deficit, thanks to the Bush Administration's overspending and the cost of the bi-party bailouts. While the current system is more costly than the reformed system will be, the current system spreads those costs out so that individuals affected pay a high cost and unaffected individuals pay no cost. The reformed system puts them on the American taxpayer, so that everybody pays some cost. This will almost assuredly require higher taxes. Insurance company profits will also decline, but that is less a concern for those who do not own stock in insurance companies.
There will also be backlash from a variety of industry groups. It is difficult to predict...
Health Care Reform Policies, whatever their nature, constitute very significant aspects to the entities over which they are supposed to act upon. These principles, in their roles of guiding decision making and governing the outcomes of such processes are so vital, especially when properly adopted by the concerned parties. This aspect applies to both the private and the public sector, a case in point being the health care reform policy. Health
What this means is that the lifetime limits on most benefits are barred for all latest health insurance plans. Another interesting thing is the reviews premium increase (Wakefield, 2010). This is saying that insurance companies must now openly defend any type of unreasonable rate hikes. The last thing is that it helps a person get the most from all of their premium dollars. In other words, a person's premium
And, secondly, what's the rush? If this is so good for us and everyone understands the program, then what is the answer to those two questions? The answers are, in order, because most Americans have no clue what the program is due to the fact that the menu changes so often and so quickly and all we get is sound bites. What's the rush? So politicians like Mr. Obama and
Healthcare Reform Initiatives in California The citizens of California are fortunate to have one of the best healthcare systems in the United States. This paper reviews the laws and initiatives that relate to the healthcare coverage and facilities that are available to Californians. This state has led the way in progressive laws that give consumers the tools to stay as healthy as possible. The Reform Initiatives in California First of all, California was
As the sole owners of a license to practice medicine on which industries and other business entities build profits, they need to take solid steps to assert their rights. They listed strategies to put their situation and demands across to the current government. These strategies include a letter writing campaign, civil disobedience, a website for physician consensus, petitioning elected officials to take action on their concerns, email campaigns sent
Transparency empowers consumers to become better shoppers. Economists assert that transparency stimulates productivity, for example, in exchange for money, one individual obtaining fair value. In every aspect, except healthcare, Davis points out, transparency, is supported. The contemporary dearth of transparency in healthcare has led to many Americans not being able to effectively shop for the best quality of service at acute care hospitals. Davis argues that transparency permits consumers,
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