Obama

Where Does it Stand?

The American health-care system is broken. Every year, close to $1 trillion is spent on unnecessary or inappropriate procedures and treatments.

Meanwhile, health-care expenses are the leading cause of bankruptcy and many people are forgoing important treatments because they are unable to afford them. It is widely accepted that Canada and the UK have superior health care systems. Thankfully, President Obama has a plan to fix what is ailing America's health care system.

Actually, to be more precise, President Obama has handed the baton to Congress and the Senate. Having learned from the Clintons' failed attempt to ram a presidential health-care reform plan down the throat of Congress that ended up going nowhere, Obama has decided to put the ball in Congress' court.

Congress is busy hammering out a plan that addresses Obama's health-care reform mandate, and the two critical issues of overspending and lack of care for the uninsured. Currently over 45 million Americans are uninsured.

While the usual legal wrangling is occurring, the hope is that eventually a bipartisan effort will be able to come up with a plan that draws enough support to pass. Obama favors a government-sponsored insurance plan to give some competition to the private system. This part of the plan is non-negotiable for Obama. Obama believes this is "one of the best ways to bring down costs."

Senate Democrats are hoping that Obama will take a more hands on approach soon, because the bill is stalled. One major sticking point is the proposal to increase tax rates on couples earning more than $350,000 per year to help cover health-care expenses. The main opposition to this measure comes from the GOP.

President Obama's approval rating remains very high, and recent polls show that a majority of Americans support his health-care reform ideas, despite some fear that it will increase costs. If Obama becomes more involved in the process, there is a good chance that the health-care reform act will pass, because he has a strong mandate for this as it was a centerpiece of his election platform.

If there is no meaningful health-care reform bill passed, then America will suffer from a ballooning structural deficit as the baby boom generation continues to age and demand more from the system, driving costs through the roof. By using intelligent ways to cut costs, such as electronic record keeping and sharing, then costs can be cut dramatically. And if taxes that were lowered during the Bush administration are raised, then the uninsured can get coverage and enjoy a level of health care similar to Canada and the UK. We should find out soon what the fate of this bill will be, but hopes are high among many that this bill will not end up dead on the floor the way the Clinton bill did.

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