Thursday, May 03, 2012
Why Obama Care is wrong
Why is it that
we are still hearing about the Obama’s health care reform outside of history
books? This legislation will still
leave some Americans uninsured and will cost the nation an extra “$823 Billion
in debt in just the first 10 years”. Starting
in 2014 tax penalties can be given to those who do not have some form of
insurance. This plan has helped get some
Republicans elected to office by running on a “repeal or replace”
platform. “In January 2011 the House
voted 245-189 to repeal the health care law”.
In poles across the nation there are more and more Americans who are
opposed to this plan.
There
are no sources of market failure that have led us to need a plan on such a
grand scheme. Health care packages are
available from many employers and are also available in the open market. Additionally some Americans are covered by
current Medicare and Medicaid programs. Some people do not have coverage due to not
being able to afford it right now. One
reason for the high cost of insurance is the demand for services by individuals
who do have coverage. These individuals
can also cause the cost of health care to go up thru moral hazard. Since they are covered, they can afford to be
more risky. Adverse selection can also
play a role since only those who are the most risky will attempt to get
coverage.
Subsides could be used to help the
poor and those in need to acquire medical insurance. This could reduce the number of Americans
without medical coverage. Unfortunately
this would also drive up the demand for services which would in turn cause the
cost of healthcare to rise.
Another option would be to subsidize the providers of
insurance plans to lower their prices on some of their plans. This could increase the number of covered
Americans while reducing the overall health care costs.
