Obama’s Health Care Reform Bill and You

While the Senate Finance Committee keeps us on our toes for its decisive bill on Health Care Insurance, let’s take a look into how this bill’s going to impact us-the common population of this nation. With an awareness of physical health on the rise, health care has become one of the most sought-after services of the nation. No wonder, health care insurance premiums have gone up. They are almost 3 times our income and that’s a matter of great concern. You’ll be surprised to know that our health care insurance premiums beat those of Norway, the 2nd costliest country, by more than twice the number. Now, let these facts not raise your blood pressure further because health insurance is very expensive and you might not be having the money to invest in it!

Do you know what the reform will mean to you? Let’s hope for the best because of what the Senate revealed, they want to “bend the curve”. As  President Obama, Christina Romer( chair person, Council of Economic Advisors), and Peter Orszag( Director,  Office of Management and Budget)  opine, this reform bill is targeted at decelerating the growth in health insurance costs over a medium – long term period of time. Let’s say for about a decade. So you can be assured that you can avail the facilities for quite a significant period of your life.

Till date, the  large number of uninsured Americans is a matter of concern. But with this reform you can expect every American to be insured either by personal payment or with Government Aid. You can avail the Government Healthcare insurance exchange as it is cheaper than your employer provided health care. But the government has kept this optional so that you can be loyal to your employer’s insurance if you want to. Rather, many employers are trying to switch over to the government plan as it seems to be more beneficial to them. The cheaper premiums are encouraging and therefore going to increase the number of policy makers.

Another way in which you’d be benefited is that whoever signs up for a policy is bound to get a minimum insurance coverage and premiums will not be hiked for those covered with some conditions.

So, with all these benefits, you might be eager to see the bill passed. But you’ve got to wait for a while. Harry Reid of the Senate says that the bill will not be passed till the August recess. It looks like it will be effective from 2013.

So, who are the lucky ones to reap benefits from this bill? If you are uninsured till now, have already borne the cost of expensive policies, don’t have money to join big business groups, a small income Medicare policy holder who has to shell out big money from the pocket for medical prescriptions and bills; jump aboard! You are the lucky person that’s going to thrive in the next few years.

This legislation is going to cost $1 trillion over the next decade. But don’t worry; this is not going to strain the already-burdened budget deficit as it’s going to be revenue neutral. I’m sure you’re thinking about who’s going to bear the cost. Don’t worry; the government has already thought about it and the taxes are going to be borne by the very rich, let’s say those earning about $ 350,000. Don’t worry if you’re a medical practitioner. You’re still going to feed your wallets well.

But it seems alls not well with this reform bill and critics are pointing out loopholes. Let’s see how this works in the years to come.