Writing assignment 2
March 22, 2014
Democrats are the leading voice when it comes to healthcare reform. They argue that it is necessary to help reduce the cost of healthcare in America. The United Sates spends more on healthcare than any other nation. Even with Medicare and Medicaid, there are still almost 50 million people without healthcare coverage. They see reform as a way to provide nearly 30 million new people with health insurance. They also refute the argument that healthcare is a free market issue. There is no other service that is provided by a middle man. Democrats feel universal coverage would help solve the problems with healthcare in the U.S. Healthcare can be considered a public option. Democrats contend that a public option would not only provide healthcare for the uninsured, but help limit the sky-rocketing costs of healthcare. Democrats believe there is too much wasteful spending on unnecessary expensive treatments (Bodenheimer). Advocates for a public option feel that it would give private insurers motivation to watch their costs more carefully since they now would not be the only player in the game. A public option is that it would give those that are currently lacking insurance because of expensive private insurance a chance to have coverage they could afford (Bodenheimer).
Opponents (Republicans) of healthcare reform say that government involvement would be too expensive and the economy would suffer in the long run. Republicans believe that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama care was never really about healthcare, but power. Republicans feel as though the expansion was an attack on our Constitution, by requiring U.S. citizens to purchase health insurance. By public opinion, Obama care has been struck down because it would tremendously expand Medicaid and leave financial burdens (Berk).
Among the 48 countries included in the Bloomberg study, the U.S. ranks 46th, outpacing Serbia and