Healthcare (reform) for a dummy - What is healthcare, the recent reform, and the controversy to it?

Question

Call me dumb, but I am young and politics is not something that is on the top of my agenda. My government class has a lot of talk about the healthcare debate, and I have little understanding of it.

I have attempted to research, however a lot of the information I have found is overwhelming and hard to understand. Could someone (knowledgeable and NEUTRAL to both sides) explain to me what the U.S. healthcare system WAS, IS, and, where it WILL be?

Answer 1

Ok, healthcare reform is in its most simply stated form a means to attempt an improvement on healthcare.



The idea traces back to the days when the frontier started disappearing and people began to see doctors in offices and hospitals, which in turn resulted in the price of healthcare going up. This lead to, among other things, private medical insurance to cover the cost of healthcare when those who obtained it went to see a doctor.



In the 1960s, with the passage of the Medicaid/Medicare bill, the government began to absorb some of the cost for low income and welfare people as well as the elderly, which provided cost relief to those who could not afford what were at the time pharmaceutical supplies like insulin and catheters, as well as helping to provide the absolutely minimum payment required to a doctor to help recoup some cost of having low income and elderly patients seen by professionals.



A year or two ago, with the passage of Obamacare, the field changed again. Now the government is requiring all citizens in the country to carry medical insurance, in much the same way that you are required to where a helmet on a bike or where a seat-belt in a car. To help with this, they are allowing children to stay on parent's healthcare plans longer and they are expanding the Medicaid/Medicare programs to pickup more of the people who will be required to obtain coverage.



Now the controversy to Obamacare is two fold: first, Americans in general have a thing about being told by the government that they absolutely have to do or have something. Recall the 1960s, all the stories about kids getting drafted for the Vietnam War and the number of people who burned their cards? Well the idea is more or less the same here, the people it effects are not all happy to be required to have coverage. This camp is not going to change it mind about the issue, and will likely forever be against the idea of government mandated healthcare simply because they do not like having the man tell them what to do. The other camp is unhappy that the government, already several trillion dollars in debt, is going to absorb billions if not trillions more in debt by expanding to cover each and every person in the country to make sure they have health insurance. These latter people want us out of debt first before we take on any more debt than we already have.

Answer 2

Well the current health care laws are confusing for lots of people. First up until Obama passed a bill there was little health care available to a large group of people and the prices have been climbing for years! Only people that had a full time job that offered it , retired or on disability or welfare had healthcare!



Now Obama passed a law that offers it to a much bigger group of people. The problem is still the cost however and there are many arguments by the Republicans to get rid of the law( although Mitt Romney had a similar plan in his state when he was government) and this is an ongoing debate.



What bothers me more is the amount of jobs being created where I live- most are part time and do not offer health care or pay enough to afford health care still. I am not sure how in the future the government is going to handle this!

Answer 3

because of the fact some people who've coverage experience they are ok yet while the government make a regulation that bans coverage companies from denying human beings for pre present condition then they might have extra coverage holders on there books and could might desire to atone for the loss purchase charging extra on rates to those who're healthful. it is likewise that u . s . a . is the only place interior the international the place human beings made sufficient funds and had employers (at one time) that paid wellbeing look after it is workers and pensions while union member deliver grow to be at it is optimal interior the 60's yet now that now no longer the case and human beings who've wellbeing care are afraid of a extensive substitute interior the equipment. base line ill human beings will fee coverage companies and the only way they could be worthwhile is to instruct down the ill human beings. So ultimately this invoice will finally end up countless years from no longer inflicting absolutely everyone to have government wellbeing care because of the fact it's going to be the only way the main folk would be waiting to attend to to pay for wellbeing care.

Answer 4

For starters, health care in the United States, is mostly delivered through an employers. Meaning, employees who work at a job enroll in a health insurance plan sponsored by their employer. This is considerably different than say a country with completely government run health care, such as the United Kingdom or Canada. So, in Canada, the government collects taxes for health insurance, and everyone is insured essentially. So when you hear of countries with "free healthcare", what they are really saying is that people pay taxes and the government pretty much runs the show.



As mentioned before, most Americans get their health insurance from their employer. The very old (people 65 and over) receive their health insurance through Medicare. Medicare is funded through payroll taxes collected from working people. The theory being, you pay for it while you are working, and receive government sponsored health care when you are in retirement. The other big government run health insurance program is Medicaid, which is health insurance for the very poor (once again this is funded through taxes). However, this leaves a lot of people without health insurance. For example, people who are unemployed, or only work part-time can't get health insurance from an employer (employers only are required by law to cover full-time employees). Individuals can go out and buy a health policy, but it is typically expensive, especially for someone who doesn't have a job.



A word you hear a lot in the health care debates is "Pre-existing condition". Essentially, a pre-existing condition is a medical condition that you already have before you go to buy insurance. Understandably, a health insurance company will not want to insure somebody who has type 1 diabetes, a kidney disorder, liver disease, or cancer. These people would be very expensive to insure. So, for someone who doesn't have a job, there is no way they can get a private insurance policy because nobody would insure them.



Obamacare, basically does the following things...



-Everyone is required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty

-Insurance companies are no longer allowed to charge higher rates, or deny coverage, for people with pre-existing medical conditions

-Because insurance companies can't charge higher rates for those with pre-existing conditions, these people can now buy affordable health insurance. However, people with pre-existing conditions are clearly very expensive to cover. The cost will be offset at least partially by the fact that all the healthy people who chose not to purchase health insurance now also have to buy health insurance.

-For people who can't afford to buy insurance, the government subsidizes it (relative to their income) and Medicaid (insurance for the very poor) was expanded

-To pay for the subsidies for low income families and Medicaid expansion, the government increased a variety of taxes (Increased Medicare taxes for high earners, taxing "Cadillac Health plan", tanning salon taxes, etc) as well as cuts in Medicare reimbursements



Keep in mind, their are A LOT of other provisions in Obamacare, but the points above are the important ones



Those who are opposed to Obamacare primarily focus on the fact that the government is essentially mandating that private citizens to purchase something. Understandably many people don't like the idea of the government forcing you to buy something you don't want. In addition, while Obamacare is projected to be deficit neutral (or in fact slightly reduce the deficit), detractors claim the opposite will happen, and will end up being far more expensive than its supporters say it will.

Answer 5

Healthcare - represents goods and services to care for people's health and treat health condtions, and/or injuries,

and most importantly keep people alive.



Because of the nature of healthcare, being a form of "stick em up - your money or your life",

we developed methods of group purchasing healthcare goods and services called healthcare insurance. However, the government stepped in a created two forms of healthcare insurance during 1965 Medicare and Medicaid. In Medicare which covers disabled, and people over 65, the government is a monopoly buyer. The same is true with Medicaid, which covers the poor, where the government through the State agencies is a monopoly buyer, and by virtue of being the single payer, the government exerts tremendous power over the amount it will pay for goods and services under Medicare and Medicaid. Effectively the government pay much less than other healthcare insurers and far far less than the amount the providers want to charge.



Healthcare reform, became an issue in 1991 in Pennsylvania in the Senate race, and Bill Clinton took it up when he ran for President. Healthcare reform began because many people are not covered under healthcare insurance plans, (or Medicare/Medicaid) and could not obtain coverage due to pre-exisitng conditions. Furthermore, the price of healthcare goods and services was driving up healthcare insurance premiums to price out many people and a number of employers, out of purchasing healthcare insurance. Healthcare insurers, were not considered innocent in this, because they claim large profits, large salaries and many perks for their executives, which drives up the cost of healthcare insurance also.



The initial answer to these increases, proposed by Congressional leaders, and supported by Hilary Clinton, was a form of Universal Healthcare dubbed Hillarycare. This would enable a single payer for healthcare services, again exhibiting tremendous power over the amount it would payer for those services. At the same time in numerous countries around the world, single payer healthcare systems were comming or were already in existance. However, in the US HillaryCare was never voted in by the US Congress.



We therefore, continue to be the country where many healthcare providers have come to escape single payer healthcare and its impact on their income.



In heathcare in the US, generally Medicare, leads the way in much of what is done in healthcare insurance. Medicare sets rates and many healthcare insurers attempt to follow this, as best they can, although generally Medicare pays considerably less than other healthcare insurance. Medicare sets payment methodologies, and other requirements and healthcare insurers try to follow most of them

Some time in the 90s Medicare developed a section administered by healthcare insurers, Part C. Part C differed from regular Medicare in that the government paid the healthcare insurers a rate per patient, and the insurers pay the providers, This methodology was copied into the Medicare Drug program that began in 2003, called Medicare Part D.



President Obama like President Clinton a Democrat, was elected in 2008 along with a Democratic Senate and House of Republicans, and after developing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help get us out of the Recession, the Congress turned to healthcare. The Congress developed the Affordable Care Act, which placed a lot of regulation on the healthcare insurance industry (restricting profits restricting salaries/administrative expenses, requiring healthcare insurers to cover pre-exisitng conditions, outlawing payments caps/limits), and had a light regulations for healthcare itself.



The Affordable Care Act is very complex and digs into many issues, but a large portion of it is aimed

at Medicare. Medicare being the leader is changing considerably with requirements related to quality of care, Accountable Care Organizations and transparency, based on the Affordable Care Act, and the quality of healthcare as a result has improved. There is a hope that Medicare will be the leader in this, but the other insirers, have not yet followed Medicare. There were healthcare reductions associated with the Act, one of which is related to the price of drugs, 340B program. There were numerous reductions to Medicare part C and D, and other Medicare reductions in the act. But they were voted out.



However, all of the new regulations on healthcare insurance and the changes in Medicare have many greatly upset and they want rid of the Affordable Care Act.