Theodore Roosevelt first proposed it in 1912. John Dingell
introduced legislation for it at the start of every session of Congress. Ted Kennedy called it “the cause of my life.” The current session of Congress has been debating it for a year. Earlier this week, the 111th session of the House of Representatives voted to pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act, finally making the dream of health care reform a reality.
As President Obama said in his post-vote speech, “This legislation will not fix everything that fails our legislative system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction.” The truth is, this bill has flaws. It is, however, the greatest step that this nation has ever taken to reform the imperfections of our health care system.
And yet, without even having read the bill, a great percentage of America is dead-set against this piece of legislation. They argue that the government cannot do anything right. As they blog on their computer with Internet provided by Millersville University (an institution subsidized and run by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) and simultaneously charge said computers with energy being generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy, they argue that this bill is detrimental to our freedom and that everything the government provides to the people of our nation is a disastrous failure.
No doubt spurned on by the likes of such individuals as Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and other Fox News agents of misinformation, they know very little regarding the language of the bill and the timeline of its implementation. In reality, the majority of these reforms will not go into effect until 2014. Those concerned about cost need only read the reports of the Congressional Budget Office. In the next 10 years, it is projected that this bill will cut a billion dollars from the deficit.
To prove exactly how nonsensical the arguments of this bill are, I’ve prepared a list of measures that will be going into effect in 2010. While the entirety of the bill is much more extensive, here are the changes that will directly affect a student at Millersville University:
No discrimination against children: Prohibits health plans from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. In 2014, this will apply to all adults.
Immediate help for the uninsured with pre-existing conditions: Provides immediate access to insurance to Americans who are uninsured because of pre-existing conditions.
No rescissions: Bans health insurance companies from dropping people from coverage when they get sick.
No limits on coverage: Prohibits health plans from placing annual and lifetime caps on coverage.
Extending coverage for young adults up to 26th birthday: Instead of being forced to be independent after college graduation, health plans must allow young people to remain on their parents’ insurance up to their 26th birthday.
Community health centers: Increases funding for community health centers.
More primary care doctors: Provides new funding for training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.
Encouraging new therapies: A credit to encourage investments in new therapies to diagnose, prevent, and treat acute and chronic diseases.
That is literally all that will take effect in 2010 that will affect a student at this university. There is nothing in that list about a government takeover of the health care system, no loss of freedoms, and no forcing anyone to change their health care plans. Sometimes, reading something and deciding for yourself is much better than hearing it from biased, partisan hysterics.
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If you are looking at the face, what wonderful things it does but if you look around a bit you see that all this bill does for me is a headache of paperwork, the privilege of paying for my own health care and the increased taxation, fees, fines and penalties to pay for health care for the millions.
The costs of Obama. The CBO states that the federal debt will be 90% of GDP. There will be some 126 new Federal Agencies and 116,000 new IRS agents to pay for.
Obama is like a husband who comes home to a wife and child who are starving. He has a new shiny ring he has bought with their last dime and even though he doesn’t have a job, he has payments for the next 10 years. He is angry because the wife and child do not appreciate his shiny present. This “government gift” must be paid for. That is what the people don’t like. Check the price tag
I can make my own ring, thank you and I expect you to do the same.
There is a lot more to Obamacare than you have listed, even in 2010.
COSTS: There has been nothing but lies about the cost. The budget forcasts are just that, forcasts with numbers presented by the majority party. These costs are only the federal costs that are other than fees, fines, etc. and monitored by the IRS. The state taxes will go up with most of the states in financial trouble already. There has alredy been costs to all of us in less than a week. With companies like AT&T having to pay billions of extra dollars which will show as increases in our monthly budgets.
ILLEGAL: There is nothing in our Constitution that alows the federal government to force us to buy health insurance and it will be found to be so.
There are many more problems with this legislation but I will not bother you with them. I am not naive about political ways but I have never seen such obvious and backroom maneuvers to get people to vote YES as with Obamacare. Yes it happens in every session but never like this. People know and will remember in Nov. Fire them all, Dem, Rep, and Indep, and elect all new people who knows whom elected them. Obama didn’t elect them, Reed didn’t elect them, and Pelosi didn’t elect them, we the people elected them and WE will not forget.
why are some people so stupid. thank god for intelligent people, and thank god for Barak Obama
These biased hysterics are people who would have CHILDREN die of disease because they do not want to pay so little for general health coverage. America is THE only western country that does not provide minimal health care to its citizens. These are people who would rather buy more diamond rings, than give a little to get a lot. Sometimes the one must sacrifice for the many. And in this case, the many must sacrifice SO LITTLE so that someone may get a lot(as in LIFE).
I cannot understand why that is so hard to see. Everyone has the right to life(and thats not an anti-abortion slogan either), and Sarah Palin has the right to be reloaded with some Arsenic. FUUUUCK.
Oh please James, please leave the standard Democrat class warfare tactics out of it. The upper class already pays a majority of the taxes-the top 10 percent of earners pays 70 percent of the taxes. To the writer, apparently the Congress didn’t bother to read much of the bill either. Pelosi: “We need to pass the bill so people can know what’s in it.” The whole process was a joke and history tells us that Gov’t programs rarely, if ever, become defecit-neutral. The Massachusetts universal healthcare plan passed in 2006 was slated to cost 88 billion, but is now over budget at 190 billion. This bill needs to be repealed for the fiscal sake of our future.
You are right, it gots flaws. I am on page 61 of the bill and I already saw some. I encourage every man and woman to read the bill too, http://www.honorinoffice.org