Obamacare: a Threat to America
President Barack Obama has been written into the history books for becoming the first African American president of the United States. The president plans on changing history again by bringing universal health care into the United States, which has won him much popularity among Democratic voters. President Obama’s speeches are adored by his fans but raise many red flags for the majority of America. Major concerns Americans have with President Obama’s two proposed health-care bills are that health-care options will no longer be available, the real cost of Obamacare, and small businesses.
As many Americans believe Presidents Obama’s health-care plan is what the United States has needed for decades, considering he did get elected, his polices will prove to be a bane for the United States. The main concern for many Americans about the Obama’s Health-Care plan is the fact that they will lose the freedom to choose. Choosing health-care benefits, doctors, and high-deductable coverage is important to every insured American citizen, so why would Obama change that?
In his speeches, Obama has promised Americans that they will be able to keep their existing health-care coverage but the proposed bills tell a different story. Both bills necessitate that Americans buy approved plans that have a number of universal benefits or face penalties. Even with a five year grace period given to big employers to convert to the new plans, there will be no options if the bills are passed. Choosing what benefits are included in one’s health-care plan often times saves money that could put food on the table for a struggling family.
Several states have already imposed a list of required benefits for health-care plans; everyone from “chiropractors to alcohol-abuse counselors” competes to be included on lists of required benefits (Tully). This competition is one reason health-care costs continue to rise. A few of the mandated benefits of the bills include coverage for prescription drugs, substance-abuse services, mental-health services, as well as insuring “children” until they reach 26 years of age. Before the bills are finalized, the Department of Health and Human Services will hire “experts” to complete he list (Tully). Thus, nobody will know exactly what this standardized list of benefits will include until the bills are passed. For some Americans, choosing their doctors is very important. Whatever the reason, some people feel more comfortable around certain doctors than others. Why would Obama take away such a simple freedom? With passing of the bills, Americans will be assigned primary care physicians who then will assign patients to specialists, if needed. It is up to the “gate-keeper” which specialist the patients sees and when.
Of course, the choice is to be made on which route is the most “cost-effective” (Tully). The situation only gets worse when primary care physicians deny patients care, and still get paid. Another freedom Obama’s Health-Care bills will strip from Americans is the choice of high-deductable coverage. Currently about 5 million Americans take advantage of Health Savings Accounts (HSA) offered by their employers (Tully). These work when an employee puts money into the account, requiring the employer to make an equivalent deposit.
Employees use Health Savings Accounts to pay for high-deductable coverage plans which, in turn, they use to cover several-thousand dollar medical bills. With high-deductable plans, patients are to cover regular doctor visits themselves; HSAs help cover these bills as well. The proposed bills cause great concern to HSA participants for the simple fact that they will no longer be able to choose a plan with “stripped” benefits. To rub salt on an open wound, John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis says, “The government could set extremely low deductibles that would eliminate HSAs..
And they could do it after the bills are passed. ” Mandating minimum benefit packages will only drive up medical costs for those who now rely on HSAs to cover medical expenses, ending “consumer-driven” care (Tully). By eliminating money coming in from independent consumers instead of big insurance companies, the proposed bills will snuff out any type of market health-care now has. Another major concern for Americans about Obamacare is a topic President Obama would rather not mention: cost.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the price tag of the bill coming from the Senate Health Committee would be approximately $1 trillion pning ten years, and that would only cover a small portion of uninsured Americans. Even worse, the Congressional Budget Office estimates another bill from the Senate Finance Committee at over $1. 6 trillion (Reich). These numbers come at the worst possible time when the United States deficit has reached an all-time high at over $14 trillion as of January (Sahadi).
This begs the question, how does Obama expect to pay for these tremendous bills? The answer: Obama plans to raise taxes. Though Medicare cuts and increased taxes will pay for much of the immediate “overhaul,” according to the proposed bills, the first sign federal tax credits will not be seen until 2013. Only eligible small businesses, up to 25 employees, can receive very limited tax credits up to 35% towards employee health coverage, which Obama hopes will persuade small businesses to offer employee health-care plans (Fox News).
But in reality, the cuts affects only one-third of small businesses, leaving the nearly rest of America to get insurance through their big business employer or buy it themselves (Danner). The United States is less than $300 billion away from our debt ceiling, what would another $1 trillion in debt do to our country? Experts predict “crippling” results. Even in the best case scenario, the value of U. S. bonds and currency would be destroyed. If the U. S. did default, markets around the world would see the effects (Sahadi). If the U. S. overnment is about to lose the ability to pay its own bills, why is the president trying to reform health-care knowing it will add to the already outstanding debt? Small business are another key concern for Americans as President Obama is pushing harder than ever for his proposed health bills. In his campaign Obama ensured Americans that his bills will include benefits for small business, however that is not the case. Looking closely, the proposed tax credits for small businesses will put each small business through a series of tests to decide whether it is eligible for the credit and how much they could receive.
With less than one-third of small businesses fully eligible under the restrictions, President Obama’s Health-Care plan will leave Americans with few options when it comes to health-care. Even more, the president neglects to mention is that his tax credits for small business are only temporary, six years at the most (Danner). After the credits run out, small businesses will be forced to pay full price for employee health costs, driving up the cost of business dramatically.
Businesses that cannot afford the full price tag of employee coverage and newly imposed taxes will have no choice but go out of business. Small businesses created 64% of all new jobs in the last 15 years; the idea of unemployment taking another dramatic rise caused by the closing of numerous small businesses is something the current economy of the United States cannot handle (SBA. gov). There is no doubt Americans like President Obama but when a record number of Americans lose their jobs because of his bills, what will Americans think of him then?
There is no doubt President Obama is an excellent speaker but his way with words hides truths that Americans need to know. Now that these truths have leaked out to the public, Americans are concerned about many different aspects of the president’s proposed bills. Understand, the idea of every American citizen having health insurance sounds great to everybody, but at what cost? Major concerns of American citizens are that health-care options will no longer be available, the real cost of Obamacare, and small businesses.
President Obama’s promise that Americans could keep their current plans has been proven bogus, he has neglected to mention the tremendous costs of his proposed health-care bills, and these bills could irreversibly damage the American economy; is Obama the change that America was searching for? As his 2,000 page documents conceal the truths behind his proposed ideas, President Obama’s health-care plan has proven itself to be yet another bane that could very possibly be placed on top the United States’ already weighted shoulders.
