However, the same June survey by the New York Times and CBS News cited by Ignagni also found that 72% of all Americans support the creation of a universal public option of insurance coverage. The public option is opposed by AHIP. Significantly, those who described their health as "excellent -- people who presumably had relatively little experience pursuing medical care or submitting claims -- were almost twice as likely as those in good, fair or poor health to rate their private health insurance as excellent" (Hilzenrath 2009, p1.).
By cleverly spinning such poll results, AHIP has been able to frighten even some moderate and conservative Democrats about their ability to be reelected. Republicans have tried to play a populist 'card' by crowing that their opposition to the Obama Administration's proposed reforms is the people's will. This has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. The public, told that they do not support healthcare reform, has begun to perceive the current bill as a product of meddlesome government.
Socioeconomic biases of the healthcare debate
For some individuals with very good healthcare, the American healthcare system may appear to be functional. These individuals fear that they will be the 'losers' if there is more government regulation of healthcare. "Insurers argue that a government plan could dominate the market, reducing consumers' options. But in the private market, options are limited by employers who restrict employees' choice of insurers and by insurers who restrict their choice of doctors," in all but the most comprehensive and generous of health plans (Hilzenrath 2009, p.2). Under the current situation, individuals with the best employer-provided health coverage have the best care, and care is rationed not according to need, but according to the place of one's employment. Employees of wealthier corporations thus benefit the most, along with insurance companies. And unlike government policies, which are subject to debate, the actions of the healthcare industry can be capricious. Recently, "Cigna, one of the nation's largest insurers, took away its own employees' alternatives in 2006 and left them with only high-deductible...
Government and Business Over the last 100 years, the issue of government regulation has been increasingly brought to the forefront. Part of the reason for this, is because there has been a need for various laws to be enacted to protect the safety and interests of the general public. However, due to the fact that United States is a capitalist-based economy, means that there have been calls to limit the kinds
Republicans construed Obama as suggesting government bailouts for new industries, or at the slightest a more lively federal government function in generating or supporting jobs -- concepts abominations to a lot of conservatives. The Obama campaign countered the idea as political spin that does not replicate the president's feeling or meaning, pointing to full circumstances of the quotation as confirmation (Koch, 2011). Discuss the process of how a Bill becomes a
Lobbying does not have a particularly positive image in the United States, mainly because of its association with large banks and corporations, and subverting the legislative and regulatory process in favor of big business against the public interest. Lobbyists spent over a billion dollars a year at the federal level, which was more than money spent on campaign contributions. In 2009, the energy industry spent $450 million lobbying Congress and
" (Tripathi, Ansolabehere, and Snyder, 2002) Additionally, groups that place emphasis on lobbying tend to may more attention to the position of power that members hold inside Congress and pay less attention to the electoral circumstances of member than do other groups and as well groups that place emphasis on lobbying "also appear to be more bipartisan and less ideological than other groups, giving more equally to both parties and more
Lobbyists may accost legislators to directly influence their vote on a certain issue. Lobbyists fulfill the important role of providing information for legislators' decision-making, educating and forming public opinion, and even contributing to and testifying to certain legislations. Lobbyists are mostly involved in the electoral process through the use of political action committees (Magleby et al.). Creating the Constitution The original framers designed the Constitution for ordinary people who were not
A micro considers the interests and rights of the individual company as the primary concern. Both of these views are valid depending on the lens that one wishes to use. The problem arises when the government is forced to develop policies regarding procurement in this volatile debate. The government must decide whether to take a micro view, favoring the rights of companies, or a macro view that places the
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