Jon Stewart/Obamacare

It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.
~ Thomas Sowell

I believe these are good articles to use for essay because it does have more than one point of view and it talks about the affects it is going to have on the people. I still need to do further research on how it’s going to affect doctors, but so far it seems it will have a negative effect on them because they will be required to see too many people at a time and the quality won’t be as good because they don’t have the time. That goes with the waiting in line, too many patients, basically getting in almost for free, causing the docs to see more people in order to keep up with their bills.

The first source is from townhall.com. It has five different people who speak about how the new health reform has affected them and their families.  One of the men speaks about having leukemia and how he lost his insurance because of the health plan. He got a letter from his insurance company telling him they were going to “drop the plan he had because of the new regulations under Obamacare”, the plan he originally had actually helped him pay for almost all of his leukemia treatments. Instead of him paying a smaller, more affordable amount to the hospital, his out of pocket cost is now going to be almost five times more than what it would have been.

Another couple that has been affected actually voted for Obama and was very proud to say they voted for him and support him in all he does. This couple paid for their own health insurance, but their current plan was being replaced with this new government health plan, and their plan also went well up. They will end up paying “$1800 dollars more a year for an individual policy and $10,000 more for their family of four”. The husband said he was laughing at all the crazy news about the new health plan until they got the letter to let them know their plan would also rise.

Hawkins, John. “5 Scandalous Obamacare Horror Stories.” Townhall.com. Townhall Magazine, 19 October 2013. Web. 5 November 2013.

The second source is from the school’s library database. It speaks about how the government plan will affect everyone meaning in the future it is going to end up “costing jobs, heath insurance premiums and deductibles will increase.” Government spending will also increase and a lot of people who get insurance through their jobs will lose the plan they have. Obama promised all these people they would be able to keep their health plan they already have, but he knew for a long time if would end up costing people more to keep it because of what insurance companies are required to offer insurance/policy holders whether they want it or not. The reason Obama knew what he was doing is because of the high pricing of regular insurance, people can’t afford it, forcing them to go with the government plan. Who wants to pay for a high costing insurance plan? The current health plan will take taxes out of the younger generations to help for the elderly and all the Medicare expenses. The big worry is who is going to pay for the younger generations in the future. The government wants to pay for these high costing plans that cost more than anyone can even afford. It’s going to put the county more in debt than actually helping the country.

LeBon, Cherylyn Harley. “Obamacare’s Costs Revealed. (Cover Story).” Independent 23.2 (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 5 Nov. 2013.

The third source is also from townhall.com. It basically is speaking about how with the new plan we are being set back instead of going forward. “Insurance is all about risks.” People have insurance because they are taking a risk of possible getting sick. It goes on to talk about how if auto insurance could pay for oil changes that would make it cheaper.  People all over have different ideas of they think they should spend money on when it comes to their health. Again, it’s all about risk, but with the new healthcare plan, the government is requiring to pay some amount. It’s just another way for them to be able to control people to make them less self efficient. “Instead of directly helping those particular people to get insurance, the "solution" was to expand the government's power over everybody, including people who already had health insurance that they wanted to keep.”

Sowell, Thomas. “An old ‘New’ Program” Townhall.com. Townhall Magazine, 5 Novmeber 2013. Web. 5 November 2013.

These two articles are more to get an idea of the history of healthcare. I think these will be helpful because I always think history is an important part of how a lot of things develop, especially something as big as this healthcare act.

From what I got out of this article; in the early 1900’s a thought process came about to try and help sick people all over the U.S.  The need to take care of sick people was on the rise and this article is basically describing how the different health care plans came about. In the early 1900’s medical professions came up with plans to help and accept different amounts of money from people of different incomes. It was a plan for doctor’s to choose who to accept and what types of insurance they could accept. Caring for so many people seemed like a good idea for people to be insured. Government plans have been thought up of before in the past, but the government wasn’t paying enough of what they said to medical professionals. That’s why the individual plans were such a hit. “Very low payments to primary care doctors by Medicaid in many states, which discourage doctors from treating Medicaid patients, will rise to match Medicare payments in 2014, again funded by federal money” (Light 129). Another interesting quote towards prescription drugs, “too many forget that in 1989, Congress repealed a major reform of Medicare it has passed in 1988 that covered prescription drugs and reduced co-payments for hospital and physician care, because of a backlash by those who would have to pay for it” (Rice, Desmond, and Gabel).

Donald W Light. “Historical and comparative reflections on the U.S. national health insurance reforms.” Social Science & Medicine 72 (20110: 129-132. Print

This second article has pros and cons of different types of scenarios in health care ranging from the people, different health care providers including medical professionals as well. The first scenario talks about the pro side.  It’s saying health care is a right and should be accessed to everyone. “It is society’s obligation to provide health care for all” (Pariser 151). The great thing about it is everyone will be eligible for health insurance and everyone has an equal chance of getting the healthcare they think they need. The con side of this is, is if you look back in history, healthcare was never part of the declaration. “The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America enumerates the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Pariser 152). If people read the history of their own country they would see healthcare isn’t even mentioned anywhere as being a right or a have to have. It’s a privilege.

                                                                                                      

David M. Pariser, MD. “Ethical considerations in health care reform: Pros and cons of the affordable care act.” Clinics in Dermatology (2012) 30, 151-155. Print.

                                                    

Thomas Sowell - Obama's Health Care Reform

This photo was posted on images for affordable health care act. This photo definitely goes back to my research question about is it really affordable and how it will affect us all. It shows a little bit of humor here as well because everyone is dressed up. There is a man dressed up as a doctor, a man wearing some type of skeleton mask, then you can see a little bit behind the doctor is a man wearing sunglasses holding a sign asking “Where’s the freedom? “.  I wonder if it’s because they want to hide their identity. The main focus of this photo looks like it is on the “doctor” obviously dressed up and wearing a mask. This man’s idea seems to offset itself, in a jokingly manner of course, but the mask has a big smile while holding the sign saying “Obamacare, turning your doctor’s office into the DMV”.  We all know that is a big joke, because none of us like waiting in line at the DMV, its dreadful!

They are all standing what looks to be by the capitol, protesting, what I think to be against this new “affordable health care act”.  The people protesting seem to have the same ideas as me. With everyone being able to afford health care, too many people are going to be waiting to get in for a doctor’s appointment which could be hours! This is why it will possibly be similar to waiting at the DMV.  Do these protestors really have the right idea?  Are they worried about getting in to see a doctor, just for a regular check up? Will people want to start getting into the medical field to help them get in to see a doctor faster? Will this increase healthcare jobs? These are questions that come to mind when I see this photo.

Like I have said before, it is great we will all be able to afford healthcare, but in the end is it going to be worth what we are going to deal with? Yes it will be affordable, but when will we get in to see a doctor?

Works Cited

Blogger: Heather. Sherman, Mark. “Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Charles Babington, Jessica Gresko, Jesse J. Holland and David Espo contributed to this report.” Health care overhaul: health care law survives, with Robert’ help. June 28, 2012

<http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/06/28/health/supreme-court-health-care-ruling>

The Big Question...

Is the new Affordable Health Care plan really affordable and how does it affect us?

I honestly don’t know enough about this health care plan yet. From what I understand it is supposed to be affordable for everyone, low income families/individuals, middle income families/individuals, etc. I wonder whether it really is because yes, it’s great this plan is supposed to be affordable. Does that mean there will be packed medical/doctor’s offices? If this is the case, then more people will have to go to the emergency room to get in, which in the end will result in higher payments. I think this could be an interesting process, but I don’t think we will really see the results for a couple years.

I think other people would agree and disagree with me. I don’t think enough people know exactly what this is either so I don’t know how much they can argue whether I am right or wrong.  I think other people would agree with me that it's great there's this new plan affordable health care for everyone, but in the end is it a good thing if people can’t get in to see their doctor because the doctors are overbooked. I think it depends who I talk to as well. For example, I would really love to talk to a health care professional to see if it has affected them. It would be interesting to see if they are starting to feel overwhelmed or accomplished because more visits mean more money for them. It is interesting.

I want to find out how busy doctors’ offices are and how it affects them. I also want to find out if this is a better plan mainly for individuals or families. I would like to know if it is really going to be affordable in the long run or is it going to cost us more money by going to emergency rooms rather than a family doctor. One question I would like to find out too is why does the government want all of us citizens to have this “affordable healthcare” when none of them have to? I’m hoping my research will answer all of my questions about this confusing topic.

Introduction

Hi Everyone,

I’m Heather. I’m attending my second semester at Front Range Community College. This blog will hopefully be updates and as much information towards the new affordable health care. I am interested in this topic a lot of people including me really have no idea how it works. I would like to understand how it does work and like to find out if it really is affordable or not for everyone and what the results will be. I am hoping I’ll be able to get some points of view from people inside and outside of the healthcare world to see how it is going to affect them and their families. I would also like to see how it is going to affect small business or family practices. I think this new health plan was written in so many words that even the people who approved don’t have a complete idea of how it works. Hopefully my blogging information will be some help to all of us!