The debate about health care reform has created a political divide between Democrats and republicans that we haven't seen in years. The central argument for Democrats is that there is never a good time to reform health care and that despite our struggling economy we need to act fast. Republicans then counter by saying that more government involvement in health care and private enterprise is not only unnecessary but hurtful to our economy. Please read the New York Times article (attached link below) and respond to the following question. Should the Obama Administration and Democrats continue to push forward with Health Care reform? Does this economy allow for proper and lasting reform? Does health care even need reforming in the first place?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/health/policy/09health.html?scp=2&sq=health%20care%20bill&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/health/policy/09health.html?scp=2&sq=health%20care%20bill&st=cse
49 comments:
I do not think the Obama administration should continue to push forward this reform. Although the idea for it is good most of the reform has people angry and therefore they do not want to vote for it. Even many democrats would not be fighting for it if it was not for the tight restrictions on coverage for abortion.
It seems to me that not only are the Republicans saying no but the some of the democrats and the people of the United States of America do not want this reform to pass. Obama is trying to push something threw that few people like and that is not a smart idea on his part. I think that Obama should back down and try to regroup and come up with a better idea for everyone.
Healthcare: by far one of the most controversial bills in the history of the United States. the problem with this bill is that 60% of americans DO NOT want it. Healthcare would suck up a massive amount of money, and make taxes (for my family at least), double by SIX. this is massive. for my family, who is very well of, we would have to live off of 700$ a month, which is ridicilous and impossible within my family's means. healthcare reform is needed, but not desperately. most peolple who don't have care don't want it, or are illegal immigrants. here are some stats:
A recent "Investor's Business Daily" article provided very interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International Health Organization.
Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis:
> U.S. 65%
> England 46%
> Canada 42%
Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months:
> U.S. 93%
> England 15%
> Canada 43%
Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months:
> U.S. 90%
> England 15%
> Canada 43%
Percentage referred to a medical specialist who see one within one month:
> U.S. 77%
> England 40%
> Canada 43%
Number of MRI scanners (a prime diagnostic tool) per million people:
> U.S. 71
> England 14
> Canada 18
Percentage of seniors (65+), with low income, who say they are in "excellent health":
> U.S. 12%
> England 2%
> Canada 6%
We don't want healthcare! furthermore, it is against constitutional rights. there is a religion, called "christian scientists" who believe that if god wants them to live or die, they will. this violates the first amendment. furthermore, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was found lying outright when she said that the over 2,000 page bill will not use taxpayer dollars for abortion. It does. The reason this bill is so long is that it has little "party favors" for each state so that they will sign. for instance, Nebraska won't have to pay for any future increases. all this means that congressmen are being coerced to not accurately represent their people. again, Americans do not want this bill, but the Obama administration is going to extensive measures, like tacking the bill on to another one so they only need 51 senatorial votes, when 60% of all america is sdaying NO. We are not being accurately represented!
I think that health care reform is a good idea, and that the democrats should keep pushing for it, but the republicans are making it almost impossible to pass. I would say that the democrats should continue to try to get the bill to a vote, but they have been trying to do that for a while and it hasn't been working. Also, Obama's ratings have been going down indicating that much of the public disagrees with this bill as well.
This is why I think that the Democrats should start all over again and work with republicans to make more of a compromise bill that more people would agree with and would thus have a better chance of passing.
Although reforming healthcare is a good idea, I think that the Democrats are trying to do too much with this bill. They need to start over, regroup and come up with a compromise that almost all of America will benefit from or at least agree with.
Not every citien in America needs Healthcare coverage, a lot already have it. However, there is that group of people in America that needs healthcare coverage, and I think Obama, the Democrats and Congress should focus more on this group, rather than making amendments to this increasingly bigger bill. They could also help more people afford Healthcare if the prices were lowered, and the lowering of the cost of Healthcare is something that Obama should focus on,and that will make smaller groups of people happy. Overall, I believe that reforming Healthcare is a good idea, but we need to take a step back and reanalyze the bill that is trying to be passed.
I agree with the Democratic central argument: there never really was a good time to pass the Health Care bill. Any time that Americans try to pass a bill that involves a lot of money, Republicans will always say no. Even though we're in an economic crisis right now, we should still try to push forward. Especially because we're in an economic crisis, people in America are struggling to get the Health Care that they need. I support Obama continuing to push the Health Care Reform forward.
Also, the Democrats have already gotten this far with the bill, why quit now? Giving up in the current stage is wasting all that time the bill was in circulation. Obama himself said that we (Democrats) should not walk away from this fight. Americans all over the country need the Health Care bill to pass, so it is necessary that Obama should 'turn up the volume.'
I do not think that the Obama Administration and the Democrats should continue to push for Health Care reform. This issue is very hotly debated throughout the United States and I think that a bill so much divided should be very carefully considered, and agreed upon by both Democrats and Republicans before it is passed. The current economic crisis is not conducive to major changes in the nation's makeup, especially ones that would require huge amounts of government spending. While bailouts are being made to banks and car companies, the country is in trillions of dollars of debt. You ask when will be the right time? Not now. To introduce a change so widespread and influential into our already struggling economy seems to be an invitation for failure.
Finally, I do not believe that the current healthcare system needs to be reformed in the first place. The price of healthcare is exorbitant, yes, but I do not think that the best way to remedy this is to introduce the government as the head of the industry, and then lay all of the tax increases needed to fund such a project on the very rich. Such people cannot stand up under such a monetary burden and support the country for very long. If one really wants to lower healthcare costs with out major changes to the economy, one could incorporate the money directly into the system. Overall, I neither believe that our country needs healthcare reform as it is being proposed nor, if it must be enacted, that now is the best time for such a change.
Kira Headrick
I think that the Obama administration should push forward with the Health Care Reform Bill because I agree with the Democratic central argument that there isn't an ideal time to reform the health care plan. If the Democratic leaders in Washington and President Obama restart this bill, I believe that they will only end up in the same situation that we are in now, only the economy could get worse or other conditions could get worse.
I believe that the citizens of United States feel more comfortable when the future of the country is clearer. Especially with the economy how it is, people do not need the feeling of uneasiness from the uncertain future of their health care. If the Obama administration continues with the health care bell, it would give the citizens more confidence because we would at least have some type of plan. The Republicans say that the government's involvement in the health care issue is hurtful and unnecessary but sometimes you have to look at the opposite point of view. It is pretty obvious that the economy is already hurting and the health care is a mess, so the government not being involved would just make things worse. In other words, nothing is going to get better unless the representatives in Congress vote for the health care to continue in the legislative process.
I have two sides to this healthcare reform. I think if this bill were to pass many people would benefit from it and many would not. If more people have healthcare then they are going to be able to bring the cost down because there are so many people that have it. But if they are not able to bring costs down for the healthcare, many people will not be able to pay for it and there would be no point in this bill. Though many people already have healthcare, if we made a reform that everybody should have it, then it is not just going to help people who do not have it, (because they are well covered now) but it is just going to help the people who already have it more. On the other hand, this would be really expensive to get all of the U.S. citizens to get healthcare, because a lot more of them already have it, therefore you are paying for something that is really only helping less than half of the population.
In the end, I think that the Republicans are over exaggerating it and making it a huge deal. But at the same time the Democrats need to stop and really think about what they are doing. Overall, both parties need to find an agreement that would help both of them and help the people of this country.
I personally have mixed opinions on this issue. I believe what Obama is proposing is promising and good for America, but the fact that the Rebulicans are just going to stay close-minded and continue to throw away Obama's great ideas, makes it unlogical to continue pushing this bill. If the Democrats had 60 seats in the Senate, the Rebulican's ridiculous fillibusters would not happen, therefore making it logical to continue pushing this bill. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
My solution to this controversial problem, is for Obama to back down and make a compromise with the Rebublicans. If you remember back in America's past, a big controversial problem occurred as well between the big states and the small states over Congress. In this huge problem, the answer was a compromise, and this is what i think is needed in this heated arguement. If both parties just keep on fighting with each other, nothing will be done. They must find an between (aka compromise) that they can agree on, or else this problem will never be solved.
In conclusion, I have mixed opinions on this issue, but in the end, I think the Democrats should stop pushing the bill and make a Compromise, like America did a couple centuries ago.
-Tom Fratkin
I never really paid attention to Obama's health care, but anyways in my opinion, Obama is just wasting time on his healthcare bill. He seems very desperate for the Health Care Bill to pass according the NY Time's Article. Health care is controversial, like what Josh said.This bill is in a sticky situation (Filibuster). The republicans will continue to disapprove the bill, and Obama will not approve the way that they (Republicans) want the bill to be as. Plus Obama disagrees with them, so why continue to push the bill to be passed?
Also, our country's economy is already in a disastrous, worst case scenario. The debt continues to pile in the U.S Debt Clock (Currently: 12,513,746,669,890) and it will keep rising. Obama has got to worry more about the fragile economy then wasting his time and pushing the bill. I say if the Republicans are forcing the bill to not pass, I say skip it and focus on the debt.
Another thing with his healthcare bill: There are people out there who disagree with his healthcare bill in the first place. I thought he was bring "change". Wow...
By the way, Josh, nice statistics you got there =D.
Edit: Oh boy, a comment got deleted! =o
I think that the Democrats need to stop attempting to force this healthcare bill through. However, I do think that a healthcare reform is needed, but instead of staying with the current bill, I think that the Democrats should create a new bill and include Republicans while writing it. The Republicans have united to form a filibuster and it is relatively firm, so obviously repeatedly trying to push the bill through will not succeed. In addition, a few Democrats oppose the current healthcare bill and some have announced that they will oppose the bill unless more restrictive abortion language is added.
Moreover, the economy is not ready for healthcare reform. According to CBS, healthcare reform, if passed, will cost about $1 trillion over a 10 year period. From the same source, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that a House proposal on the bill will increase the federal deficit by over $239 billion over a 10 year period. With what we’ve heard about this recession, the economy can not support healthcare reform. According to multiple news sources, on average, over 50% of Americans oppose the healthcare reform bill, so trying to push the current bill though is against what this nation wants.
I think the Obama administration should continue to push forward with the Health Care reform. First of all, I would like to mention the other 40% of people who want this reform to happen. I understand the process of "majority wins", but this is simply not fair for the 40% of the people. Also, the facts that j.mcgartiy brought up were great facts. However, the important thing is not about how many MRI scanners are in the U.S. and how many people survive from cancer. It's about how many people DON'T survive from cancer because they simply didn't have the money to afford the treatments.
The point of this health care reform is to provide the treatments to the people who don't necessarily have the money to provide them. I think this argument boils down to what people value more... Life or Money. People in poverty can't afford medicines and medical treatments, and when they don't receive these, the outcome is the death of innocent people. This is taking away the fundamental right to life that every human being is given.
So... Is the economy(money) more important than people's lives?
One of the main reasons the Obama Administration has been pushing this healthcare bill is because, as Obama said, “If not now, when? If not us, who?” If such a reason is the basis of a extremely controversial subject, the question may be asked, what is the real issue and what can be done to fix that exact problem? If a solution is clearly shown to be beneficial, the question of when it should be passed would not be not need to be asked. Thus, I think the Obama Administration needs to stop pushing this bill that has such strong opposition.
Our current state of the economy does not allow for such a cost increase, because the government cannot just create money to support this bill. What needs to be kept in mind is that whatever the government spends will have to come from the people, in the form of taxes.
Part of Obama’s argument for healthcare reform is that insurance prices are skyrocketing. However, a contributing factor is government mandated converges, so it cannot be assumed that the prices are rising for no reason. The government has started deciding what insurance companies must cover, which is a factor in these price increases. Therefore, healthcare reform should be addressed, but the way in which the Obama Administration has approached this issue is not completely correct.
I don't think that the Democrats should keep pushing to pass this bill, but re-start it. With the filibuster-proof majority gone, the bill might just be stuck in Senate. If a compromise could be made between Republicans and Democrats, then the bill might have a chance of passing. Obama's ratings are going down, so the public probably disagrees with the bill too, so restarting probably would be the smart thing to do.
A lot of Americans already have healthcare, but theres also a group that needs health care, but can't afford it. If the bill was re-written, I think it would be good for it to focus on this group instead of every person in the US.
I beleive the Health Care plan is a good idea. A country is supposed to be a place where everyone works together to build and make progress in civilization; and create a happy life for everyone. But in the United States today, not everyone has access to getting their own medical services. We are supposed to be helping eachother! If all American citizens have to pay a little more in taxes, to save peoples lives, I think its worth it. Yes, there are flaws in the bill, and they should be givin more time to figure out a way to make it work.
There is no reason this bill has to pass in the near future. It is a big change, and already, alot is going on in America right now. Passing this reform at the wrong time could make things worse, such as the economic crisis, if things arent worked out in the right way.
In the United States, I believe that all people should have good, quality healthcare. However, I think the Obama Administration needs to make this decision slowly and really create a good healthcare reform. Healthcare isn't the most important thing right now, there are more important things like global warming or the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't think that the economy can handle such a major health care reform, I think that it is too unstable and it wont last that long.
I don't really think that health care needs a reform right now. Maybe in time it could be changed and made better put right now there is too much chaos in the world for anything extreme to happen.
The Obama Administration should continue pushing forward on the healthcare reform. The ones who oppose the healthcare reform most likely don't want their taxes raised. But if they were in the situation of the people who actually need healthcare, they would want to be helped too.
One of the arguments against healthcare stated that God knows where we are headed and that's how it should be. The person who said this probably didn't consider the fact that God might've put a sick person in that position to be helped. Whoever said that is just letting life handle its course, not doing anything about it. It's like saying that no one should take any antibiotics because we wont get sick and die if God doesn't want us too. If God does want someone to die, they will die. But if there's any chance to save people's lives, we should take that chance. The healthcare reform could be that chance we need to take.
I believe that health care itself should be reformed to somethings but both Republicans and Democrats have to work together for it. Without the Republicans the Democrats will never get it passed and it will go on indefinitely which will just prove to be a large waste of time all around, but the republicans really do need to become part of the team on this because it shouldn't matter to much on "Oh its my money because I'm better than you" but more on we are one country and if we are divided on whats best for our own people then you should make this a larger ballot/census of the U.S. The struggling economy is probably not the most opportune moment to spring a health care that could raise taxes, but it does need to be done eventually because if you look at it from any point of view in the end the only people that come out the winners are the insurance companies that get paid no-matter what. If both parties work together on this issue though it could end up making a lasting change that would help people more than hurt them but without the teamwork it'll either be passed and people will not be happy with it or, it will not be passed and people won't be happy. On the subject of time another president I believe it was Clinton, also tried to pass a healthcare Bill but it didn't work out for mostly the same type of thing and that was a while ago so time will be a big thing in this challenge. As a whole I think that if they reform healthcare they will have to re-do the insurance companies and will have to work together.
I think that health care reform is a good idea, and that the democrats should deffenetly keep pushing it, but the republicans are making it extremly difficult for for any progress in the matter. I think that the democrats should still push the the bill to a vote, but because the republicans are giving them such a hard time, perhaps the democrats should take the bill into comittee and try and revise it so the republicans are more willing to pass it.
If this still doesnt work, the democrats should start from scratch and work with republicans so there would be compromise along the whole way. I think a healthcare reform is needed, and if the democrats and the republicans and both agree on a good plan that satisfys both sides, than as a country we will support it as well.
I think the Obama administration should continue to push forward with the Health Care reform. The amount of people who would survive from cancer isn't the main issue, it is about how many people do not survive from cancer right now due to their problems with poverty and money issues that really matters.
The point of health care to provide the treatment citizens need to the people who do not have the money to provide their families and their selves with the medical attention they need. People in poverty can not afford medication and medical treatments, and when they do not acquire these, the outcome is death or the permanent injury of innocent people. We must make sure that every citizen of the United States has free health care so they may be able to obtain good quality health care and medical attention.
Although the Republicans are trying to make it impossible for this bill to pass, i think the Obama administration should keep pushing the bill, or at least try to get it to a vote. I don't think they should give up now after such a long time of trying to get it passed. This bill would cost a massive amount of cash but as American citizens shouldn't we have the right to a strong health care plan? the only thing that makes me think we should hold back on the bill would be the timing, can our economy really support this bill right now? perhaps holding off for a few year might be better for us.
I firmly believe that some sort of healthcare reform is neccessary in the United States. It is expensive, inconvenient, and unfair to insurance customers. Regular people are being extorted by large insurance companies and charged unreasonable premiums.
However, I do not think that the Obama Administration should be pushing for the Health Reform at this time. Currently, The US is very deep in debt and I just do not think that it is financially prudent to suggest such an expensive idea. It is a stretch to start this bill, let alone maintain it. This utilitarian option is ideal, but just not reasonable now.
Healthcare is one of the most talked about and debated topics in Washington. A Healthcare reform definitely needed.
On the issue of the republicans vs. the democrats I believe that there should be some way to find a "Happy Median" to healthcare reform, because the current situation id getting us nowhere.
The economy will be able to stand a healthcare reform. The citizens of the US will actually save money thus, making the economy more prosperous.
I believe that Obama's Healthcare plan is a good idea, but may also need some work because of all the Republicans against it. Obama should push the bill for a vote, but if it does not work out, he should start all over and work with the Republicans to build a more agreeable bill. He should try to target more of the 40% of the people who are in desperate need of health care rather than the 60% who already have some form of it.
Even though this bill could potentially cause many problems like raising the national debt, this could also easily help give the Obama administration and the American people confidence if it works out. I agree with the agreement that there will never be a time to reform healthcare except now, so the administration should try and pass it or work with the Republicans to develop a compromise.
The Healthcare bill that Obama is trying to pass is very controversial and in my opinion a waste of time. I feel that even if this bill starts from scratch and makes some changes, the republicans will still fight back with everything they can including a filibuster. Considering that Obama does not want to make the changes in the bill that will make the republicans want to vote for it, the fact is that the republicans will disapprove it. Obama's ratings have been going down recently indicating that much of the public disagrees with this bill. I mean, not every citizen in America needs healthcare coverage, a lot of people already have it. If more people have healthcare then they are going to be able to bring the cost down because so many people that have it, but if they are not able to bring costs down for it, people will not be able to pay for it and then this bill wouldn’t be necessary at all. Overall I don’t think Obama should continue to push forward anymore.
I think that the Obama administration should pass the Healthcare reform, because in the end it is all about the people. Each person has their own view on life, and mine is that you do what you can to be happy. It isn't all about making millions or advancing into the future. The huge reason not to reform healthcare is money, but to what limit can anyone say that money is more important then a being's health. A human does not need money to live, but does need good health, so reforming healthcare and making it more open to people is a good idea.
I think that Obama is right when he says, "If not now, when?". Though it's true we don't have a filibuster proof House, I doubt that after this year we will be any closer to one. Waiting until a "better" time seems pointless, because no matter what, the Republicans who oppose health care reform are always going to say now is not a good time.
It is true that the bill that was passed by the Senate and is trying to be be passed in the House has many elements that make different people say "I will definitely not say yes until that changes". But when it comes down to it, health care in America is bad. The Congressmen who make these decisions don't need to worry about it because their coverage is fine, but what about the rest of the 3 billion people in the US who can't afford health care?
The economy may be bad, but thinking about it another way, that just makes an even greater need for health care reform because there is a growing number of citizens who can afford it. So, even though it may not be effective, I think that the Democrats should stop worrying so much about whether they're going to get re-elected in November or not, and put all their effort into pushing this bill through.
The Obama administration should continue to try to pass the health care reform. One can see the passion Obama has in trying to pass this bill, and obviously there has got to be a extremely good reason for that. In addition, the healthcare reform bill is very helpful towards Americans and I believe it will help the economy crisis we are in right now.
Republicans have got big problems with this bill, but I think that they are wrong. Even though a chunk of money is being spent, it is all for the aid of America. Everything seems quite set for approval as well, and there are many good points. Therefore, I believe the healthcare reform bill should continue to be pushed by the Obama administration.
I agree with many people that healthcare does need to be reformed. However, I feel that Obama's healthcare plan does not satisfy enough of what the people want. It seems that both parties are trying to conflict with each other, and stand in each others way as much as possible about healthcare. I believe that a new reform plan should be made, and democrats and republicans should work together to create it. Compromises will have to be made, but if both parties can remain level headed a new plan will be made that will be supported by a larger majority of people. Healthcare reform is a very important issue, and should not be rushed. The plan should also focus more on the people struggling to keep their healthcare and people who do not have any, rather than the general public as a whole.
I actually am not familiar with the issue of health reform but from what I have read, I am on the fence about this. The legislature is already busy with bills and laws so its would be better to push forward with the bill and have it done with. There is no better time than the present in this economy and changes need to be determined as soon as possible. Washington needs to take action.
However, this reform bill is angering many people. The Republicans are not the only ones debating against it. Many others including some Democrats are disagreeing with the bill. It would be a good idea to start over and build a bill that pleases as many people as possible. With Democrats and Republicans working together, a better bill will be made in a more efficient time period.
This is a very controversial topic and I still do not know which way is the best choice.
Health care is a very controversial topic, and this is because it cost so much money. Taxes nation-wide would increase, however, I believe that all Americans have the right to a doctor or physician. The idea of health care makes sense to me, but it needs to be reformed and needs to be much less expensive. It is frustrating how each party is so embedded in their own ideas that the reform has reached a stalemate. With a public growing bored, I feel that it is illogical to keep pushing for something that is so hard to agree upon. The simple truth is that no matter how much the Democrats may change the the bill, the phrase "Health Care" will continue to frighten the Republicans. With neither party willing to change their opinions, this bill is at a stand still in the eyes of the public and should be thought about in the future once our economy has began to recover.
Our country's economy is very vulnerable at this time, and with so many bills already increasing the nation's taxes, the health care reform could be disastrous. If the health care reform was dropped now, and then brought up again in a few years, it would be much more successful and possibly a more logical solution in the eyes of the Republicans and the public. My only fear is that if the reform is not pushed right now, it won't be pushed in the future. However, it is more important to keep the public happy and to keep our political system moving.
I agree with Democrats about Healthcare reform, but I think that they need to start over and both Republicans and Democrats need to agree on something. I still believe that some sort of Healthcare reform needs to happen because their are way to many Americans without Healthcare. The Bill is already having a hard time passing with the Republicans and with the Fillabuster it may be impossible so the Democrats are going to have to change something about the bill.
I think that, although it is an extremely controversial issue, the Obama administration should continue to push forward with the healthcare reform. It will be beneficial to many people and, as it says in the article, we shouldn't have a system that benefits the insurance agencies more than the American people. Many people are bringing up the argument that it is the wrong time to push healthcare reform, that the economy is not at a strong enough position at the moment, but i agree with what was said in the article that there hardly ever IS a good time for something like this to take place.
If this bill doesn't go through as hoped, i think the republicans and democrats should try to collaborate on a reform that more people would agree with, but either way i think a reform needs to happen. November elections shouldn't affect the decision of a reform either, because they shouldn't be more concerned about getting re-elected than achieving a better system of healthcare in the eyes of the people.
I feel that the democrats should keep pushing to pass the house bill. Yes, health care definitely needs reforming in the first place! Millions of Americans can't get the proper health care that they need because the prices are so rediculous and insurance companies don't pay for it. Some health issues may be things that are not life threatening but could be affecting an individual's status so much to the point that they can work and function fine, but not to the most of their abilites. This is then affecting the economy.
If the people of the United States had enough health care insurance to get the proper help that they needed then they could be performing such higher work values and that would only give our economy and work force a boost in everything. So, I completely agree when Obama says, "If not now, when? If not us, who?" because it's the truth. There will always be an excuse as to why we shouldn't do something that's going to cost money and work, but it will in the end benifit the entire country to be giving it the proper health care, promoting a healthier country and work force.
I think that, yes, we need a new health care bill, but that the Obama Administration and the Democrats should start all over. We are in no rush to get a health care bill out to the nation; in fact having the health care bill passed the way it is now could send the nation into more of an economic crisis. This new health care bill could cost us billions and could cause the economy to crash. I think that we do need a health care bill to help provide the people who have lost their jobs or just can’t afford health care with some form of health care. The republicans are not willing to let this bill pass and are willing to postpone the votes for as long as possible. This is why they should just get rid of the current health care bill and start a new one. After all how did they get the Constitution to pass? Everyone had to make compromises. This is one of those times where the congress has to be willing to make a compromise in order to do what is best for the nation and the people who are living in it. After all not only did we vote for them to have their job we pay them too! So they should do not just what is best for the Democrats but what is best for the entire nation.
I'm on the fence about this issue. Health care, in my opinion, is a necissary but expensive thing. I agree and understand with what Obama wants to improve with health care, but it will be very costly. Costly is not a word that is ever thought upon about be great. And that is especially true now in this economy. Many people are protective of money in this bad economy. I believe that pushing this reform now would only hinder the US instead of help it. However, I still believe that health care needs to be reformed, but at another time when the economy is doing better.
Also,I agree that the Obama Administraion and the Democrats should continue to push forward with this bill, however the Republicans are making this extremely difficult. Because of this, I believe that the Democrats should revise this bill that would suit the Republicans better so then maybe this reform could be passed.
~Taylor Pfromer
I think that the Obama administration should continue to push for the Healthcare Reform. Although, we as a country are struggling with the economy at the moment, we still need to push for this bill. People who are poor have health insurance. People who are rich also have health insurance or at least can afford healthcare. It's the people in the middle who can't pay for healthcare, and don't have health insurance. So these are the people who need healthcare reform so that they have access to health insurance. Also, people who have serious medical conditions run out of their insurance benefits. They end up having to use their own money to take care of their health and eventually, they run out of money.
Another problem is that people get stuck in their jobs because they don't want to lose their health insurance. Or they get stuck in their jobs because they have a medical condition and can't change health insurance. Someone needs to change this situation and that's why we need healthcare reform.
I personally don’t believe that the health care needs to be reformed in the money deficit we are in right now. There are currently government laws giving children under 12 year’s health care if their families cannot afford it. I believe that because our government has no money right now, it can’t give free services to its people. I thinking its horrible how some people can’t afford health care, but when the government doesn’t have money to spend on its people, it can’t spend money it doesn’t have. If the country actually had money to spend, I would 100% be supporting this bill.
When the country gets money, it is the country’s job to take care of its citizen’s, which includes giving them heath care. Once the country gets its self back on its feet, it will be great when everyone can be medically taken care of. Even though the money will come from tax payer’s money, the tax payers will actually have money to pay for the taxes. Right now, no one has any money, and the country should not be paying for more that it can actually afford. The only time anyone should ever be in debt is when they’re getting their college diploma, or right after they got it. This country is not in collage, so as leaders of this world, we need to step up to the plate and get out of debt as fast as week possibly can, and do the best we can to get out of debt as fast as we can.
By: Grace-e Kerber
Obama and his administration should not continue in the path they are following with this healthcare bill. From what i have read from the article this bill is going nowhere fast. The fact that even some democrats are threatining to vote against the health care bill if it isnt tighter on abortion should be a clear sign to start over.
I believe this bill should restart and get everyone in agreement. "We the people" not "We the few". we need to be joined together and make a reform that is agreed upon, almost like the conneticut compromise.
The health care bill presents some very controvertial issues to congress, the people, and the Obama administration. The bill is pushing for a reform of the health care system. One might ask why we need to reform health care? One of the major reasons is to make health care avaliable to everyone. There are cases where people have not been able to find health care coverage because of an existing condition. According to a NY times article " A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn’t known about when he applied for his policy. Because his treatment was delayed, he died". Reforming health care would give health care to these people and make health care work better for the people, not the companies.
Although I do think that something needs to be done to eliminate scenerios such as mentioned above, I think that Obama not should continue pressing for health care reform. In my oppinion it is a lost and hopeless cause. The democrats are not in as large a controll as they need to be to easily pass these measures and the Obama administration is loosing popularity by pushing for this unpopular bill. I think that there are more pressing issues such as war and the federal debt that need to be addressed right now because they are dynamic problems that are changing and getting worse. As democrats have said there is no good time to reform healthcare, I think that is also true agains them. Why is now any better a time than later? I do not think that now is better than later for any reason because congress could be focusing on the debt instead of passing bills(such as healthcare) that will spend more tax payers money and increase the debt. I think that Obama did choose a bad time to focus on health care reform. He has staked a lot (in my oppinion: too much) of his popularity on this issue during a time when even democrats are starting to oppose health care reform and when Obama needs to be concerned about getting re elected.
Yes, reforming this bill would be good, but maybe they are going a little over hte top with one, jsut meanign that they are doing too much. I do agrre that everyone should have good healthcare here. They could possibly restart it.
Not that many people may agree with this so maybe Obama is pushing this a bit too far. Coming up with new ideas and plans for this bill would be a great option.
I believe that the Health Care Reform bill is a bad idea and should not be push through the legislator. If people can afford the luxury of Health Care,then they should be able to pay for it themselves. But why should the rest of America pay for insurance on someone else.
The economy is already at such a catastrophic state which makes it even harder for struggling families to fork out the extra tax money. At this point in time, i don't believe that health care needs any reform. It hasn't been an issue until just recently and the system has worked since the beginning of health care. The health insurance companies made a good product and should be able to sell it as it pleases without the consent of the government and citizens.
I think the Obama Administration should continue to push forward with this reform within reason and with some restrictions. By reducing the expenditures, both parties can effectively bridge the gap between their differences and coordinate a successful bill. The American people need help because of the economy, and healthcare is one of the biggest beneficiaries to sustaining a smooth system in our society.
Yes, the Obama Administration and the democrats need to continue
to push forward with health care reform because everyone deserves to be healthy and the opportunity to receive medical care when sick. The way health care is now is that most people who are without insurance or are with poor insurance coverage are the working middle class. These are people who work hard and deserve to not have medical care because they cannot afford it. In addition, right now, insurance companies can tell people they won't cover them due to "pre-existing conditions," which means there is a medical problem that needs medical treatment and medicines. These are the people who need health insurance the most and yet insurance companies can say no to them. This is wrong.
This economy does allow for health care reform, although maybe not at the high level President Obama and the democrats had originally placed in the proposed bill. Right now, the economy could afford to offer insurance to all the people, but maybe
not with high priced items originally suggested. For example, health care reform could tell insurance companies they can no longer deny people insurance due to pre-existing conditions, but leave off some of the other things that cost more than the
government can afford right now. In the future, we can add other things to the bill when the economy gets better.
We do need health care reform now, because as President Obama says: "If not now, then when? If not us, then who?"
There will never be a perfect time for health care, but we can make an impact in people's lives and overall medical
care by starting small now and growing over time.
I think Obama's right to push for health care reform; there are all kinds of loopholes that the insurance companies can use to drop you: pre-existing conditions, cancer,"we don't cover that," etc. It's absurd, and we definitely need to fix it, there's no doubt about that; however, the problem is that it's not the right bill. What wee need here is a bill that almost everybody wants, otherwise it'll never pass. I realize that's very hard to get, but at this point few enough people like it that it's just not a good idea. We need something better.
I think the biggest problem with this bill is the public option. The PO is what's going to kill this bill, if anything's going to. The PO is basically a government-run health care program. This would be all fine and good if the PO wasn't so much cheaper than all of the private packages. If the government wants to have its own health care package, that's great. Either find a way to get the costs of the other insurance companies down so that they can reasonably compete, or up the price of the government version so that it doesn't kill the private firms. If this doesn't happen, the health care bill is screwed.
If somehow Congress fixes the bill so that more people like it, then I think it's a great idea, because it's desperately needed. But not until then.
I believe that Obama should push for the healthcare reform because the current healthcare system is not working as well as it could. There are many Americans that do not have health insurance for various reasons. They need to be insured so they don't have to pay ridiculous rates for uncovered healthcare in hospitals. I think the economy can have some negative implications on the reform but it won't be affected too much.
Health care is an incredibly controvertial issue, and for good reason. The republicans make an very good point, saying that this is not the best time, especially with the current economy, to attempt to reform health care. However, the democrats make an excellent point as well, saying that there will never be a good time to reform health care. This is definently true, because health care reform is going to be hard, and America will never be perfectly suited for it.
The democrats have gotten this far with the bill. Why not keep pushing it? Also, some of the republican arguments are irrelevant to the health care issue and should not be considered. For instance, the abbortion issue is important, but should have absoloutly no impact on health care.
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