So, with that said, I'm going to provide a slightly more oppositional view to this bill since everyone else here does a good job listing and elucidating the benefits.
Some things I don't like (or just wonder about):
Some things I don't like (or just wonder about):
1. No public option or medicare buy-in. I feel this is a primary way to promote competition and I have reservations about the government mandating that people buy a product from private insurers without being provided with a public non-profit option.
2. The plan is not nearly as economically feasible as the CBO makes it seem. A lot of the avenues for creating revenue don't come into effect until several years down the road, and who knows what the political landscape will be like then. Thus, who knows if some of the taxes will be implemented (like the tax on "Cadillac" plans starting in 2018...not likely). The CBO does not really take into account realistic feasibility of some of the revenue streams. There's also a good deal of accounting finagling - "creative" ways to push some of the costs to later years to make immediate 5 and 10-year projections look more favorable. But these things will still end up contributing to the national debt (and thus making the interest paid on debt a higher and higher % of the GDP, possibly forcing a further devaluation of our currency...but I'm no expert in monetary policy). Also, the main cost-saving measure involves $500 billion saved from restructuring medicare and finding various efficiencies. Let's hope so. Either way, there's going to be a lot of new..
3. Bureaucracy. New agencies will be created to find efficiencies, evaluate programs, and other such measures. We'd be naïve to think that this wouldn't lead to any new corruption (and intense lobbying from insurers/providers to keep their profits high). But maybe I'm just being cynical. The funding for these new agencies will also likely come from new bills in the coming years, as this current bill doesn't provide much of it (so the $960 billion cost estimate may be optimistically [or deceptively] low). Also, there'll be 16,000 new IRS agents to make sure all the taxes are collected. If there's one thing Americans can agree on, it's that we need more IRS agents. Clearly. That said..
4. Regulation is only as good as the enforcement behind it. Let's hope this new government control actually provides the benefits we hope it will.
5. Premiums for the healthiest people will likely go up in the individual market (the way I see it, but I hope I'm wrong - I admit ignorance here). Don't smoke? Don't overeat? Use condoms? Good, you can now subsidize the obese smoker having unprotected sex next door (attractive mental image, for sure), as you both pay the same premium. I think there needs to be a way to punish poor health decisions (or rather, incentivize good health decisions) and I don't feel that providing more preventive medicine and education is the only answer. (Edit: Whoops, whether someone smokes is still a factor insurance companies can use to determine premiums, along with age (limited at 3:1 ratio), geography, and family size. But these effects don't go in until 2014.)
6. No inter-state health insurance. I think the Republicans had a good idea here and it should've been included. Also, tort reform. Like Obama said, the possible financial benefits from this is relatively low, but it's still worthy of consideration.
6. No inter-state health insurance. I think the Republicans had a good idea here and it should've been included. Also, tort reform. Like Obama said, the possible financial benefits from this is relatively low, but it's still worthy of consideration.
7. "You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom." Almost the entire burden of this bill rests on taxing the rich. Maybe it's convenient and good for the general public, but is it completely justified?
8. This bill is an abomination of our constitutional rights! Well, at least according to libertarians. But then again, all taxes can be considered the same way. The government is stealing our money! Oh, I love listening to Ron Paul's commentary (here's a good one about how health care is not a right and this bill will bankrupt he country). The bigger problem now is that the government is forcing us to pay for a product sold by for-profit companies.
8. This bill is an abomination of our constitutional rights! Well, at least according to libertarians. But then again, all taxes can be considered the same way. The government is stealing our money! Oh, I love listening to Ron Paul's commentary (here's a good one about how health care is not a right and this bill will bankrupt he country). The bigger problem now is that the government is forcing us to pay for a product sold by for-profit companies.
9. Some of the minimum benefits required for insurance plans are a bit ridiculous. If you don't have kids, your plan still has to cover pediatric services. You're a woman without children and no plan for children (or you're sterile)? Your plan still has to cover maternity services.
10. An extra 10% tax on ultraviolet tanning‽ You have got to be kidding me! I can barely afford to go twice a month as it is. Either way, I can see why Boehner is up in arms against this bill.
I kind of agree with a lot of what Howard Dean says. He's a supporter of reform, but doesn't think this bill goes far enough (especially without a public option/medicare buy-in). Here's his opinion, he has some interesting commentary:
I kind of agree with a lot of what Howard Dean says. He's a supporter of reform, but doesn't think this bill goes far enough (especially without a public option/medicare buy-in). Here's his opinion, he has some interesting commentary:
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