Obama’s Continued Effort to Jump-Start Healthcare Reform
Shauntey McFarlane
Wednesday, September 9th, President Barack Obama once again proclaimed his efforts to assure Americans and Congress that Health Care Reform is necessary in an attempt to offer “stability and security for all Americans.”“I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last,” said Obama, “it has now been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for healthcare reform and ever since, nearly every President and Congress, whether Democrat or Republican has attempted to meet this challenge in some way.” Obama plans to achieve his healthcare initiatives through a combined effort. First, he needs Americans to fully understand the options offered and the goal in order to make a cognoscente decision to move forward in revamping healthcare. Second, he needs congress to support his plan. Third, he needs Republicans to join in a combined effort to improve healthcare as a unit.
“Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on healthcare,” said Obama.
Obama once again laid down the core of the healthcare initiative, which is to provide more security and stability for people who have insurance, provide quality- affordable healthcare to those uninsured and put a stop to elevating healthcare cost bankrupting Americans. The healthcare plan “incorporates ideas from Senators and Congressman; from Democrats and Republicans,” said Obama.
Obama’s plan, though plausible, are meant with skepticism and criticism. Americans remain staunch in their beliefs that the healthcare reform initiative has underlying factors that may hurt them financially if the bill is passed. Obama believes part of American’s fears is the result of  “scare tactics” used in unfair debates to dissuade them from agreeing to healthcare reform.
In the joint speech to Congress and Americans, Obama hoped to shutdown Republicans heresy regarding his healthcare agenda when he stated, “And to my Republican friends, I say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of healthcare, we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have.” Currently, a coalition of doctors, nurses, hospitals and drug companies support Obama’s initiative. This same group opposed healthcare reform previously.
Of those Americans uneasy with the healthcare reform plan, young adults are one of Obama’s major supporters of the bill. It’s estimated, young adults make up 13 million of uninsured Americans. If the bill is passed, young adults believe they’ll obtain the option to purchase and receive affordable health insurance. “Adults 18 to 29 are the group most supportive of President Obama's plan to overhaul healthcare, according to a recent poll by SurveyUSA. They are also the age group that most supports creating a government-run health insurance option,” latimes.com.
As stated by Obama, Americans can be sure through the healthcare reform initiative: it will be against the law to be denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions, it will be against law to lose healthcare coverage because of illness, insurance companies will be unable to place arbitrary caps on the amount of coverage one can receive in a lifetime, there will be a limit on out of pocket expenses. Lastly, insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge to the patient, routine check-ups and preventive care.“We are the only advanced democracy on Earth – the only wealthy nation – that allows such hardships for millions of our people,” said Obama.
What does healthcare reform mean for Americans? Healthcare in short means stability, security, and low cost health insurance to all Americans.
|
