The biggest news this week is America’s “Health Care Reform” bill that was passed on Sunday, March 21, 2010. It passed by a very close margin vote 219-212 in the House of Representatives. As a new citizen of this country, I was curious and somewhat skeptical about the need for such a thing. I’ve been paying attention to what was discussed, through the mainstream media, blogs, and social networking sites. I’ve also talked to some of my friends, and heard their takes on this.
I had a few questions. It’s a complex issue that required much debate, discussion, and research. I’ve tried my best to summarize the answers, according to my understanding. If I missed some points, please let me know via comments.
What is wrong with the current health care system in America?
The US Census Beureau said1 in 2007, there were 45.7 million people in the US without health insurance. The numbers may be skewed due to a large number of illegal immigrants in this country. Nevertheless, millions are still uninsured. That means, if they get sick, they will have to somehow pay out of their pocket – and medical expenses are costly.
Why are medical costs so expensive?
Depending who I talked to, the blame is towards medical malpractice lawsuits and corporate greed. Hospitals and doctors are forced to take an insurance policy to protect themselves against frivolous lawsuits. It’s not uncommon for a patient to go after the medical provider for the lack of service he/she is receiving. The number of those lawsuits may not number in millions, but the dollar values certainly go beyond that. That cost is passed on to the consumers.
What is wrong with the insurance companies?
People blamed corporate greed is the main problem. It is, the all too common argument, that bosses and CEOs are generally money grubbing individuals. But, come to think about it, corporations are in business to make a profit for their shareholders – so I can’t really blame them for doing their jobs. I’m not dismissing the fact there are some corporations that pushes aside moral and ethical judgment by not helping their customers. It’s just too easy for anyone to blame the entire industry because of a few bad ones.
Why not let the government take over and give everyone free health care?
Surely if it works for Canada, it works for the US, right? Well, as a young Canadian in the 80’s, I was certainly impressed with Canada’s health care system. It was generous and headache free. I knew a Canadian woman, living in the US, who went back to Canada (temporarily) to get free service for her pregnancy. I heard many seniors who moved back to Canada to get their free service. I’ve known many folks emigrate from Asia to Canada, just to get their free service. The free health care is just too good to pass.
The flip side of the coin is the increasing high cost of socialized health care. Canadian government taxes the population up to 50% (or more) of their gross income2. There are also additional sales tax to support it. For the young and healthy, this is a heavy burden. The same trend goes to other socialized medicine based countries, like the UK and France. The cost of living is just too high. When I was out of college, it was a daunting task to prepare for the future, when I could not even keep my hard earned income.
Why the rush to make the American Health Care Bill happen?
I think the slumping economy has a lot to do with it. When it was prosperous during Bill Clinton days, he tried to introduce it and failed miserably. People just didn’t see the need to pay the extra taxes to support the needy. Now, when there are millions of people out of the job and without health insurance, they’re scared they will go bankrupt and die from the lack of medical treatment.
There’s also the political angle. This bill is Obama’s major campaign promise. His political career depends on it, and he only has 4 years3 to make it happen. Getting it signed sooner, than later, is his number #1 goal – and he succeeded. He got it done through special deals and scare tactics.
How does it affect me?
It’s too early to tell, but someone will have to pay for it. For starters, it’ll be the rich, or those who make more than $200,000 per year. This will include small business owners. Another words, those who create jobs and work hard to earn a decent living. It may not be apparent now, but as the government drives away entrepreneurs and high income earners, it will be shouldered on the middle income earners – like myself. Eventually it’ll be on my child, and my child’s children – assuming they’re doing well themselves, not asking for government handouts.
Conclusion
Who knows how long America will end up paying for this monstrosity of 938 billion dollar bill! The US is already spending a large chunk of its GDP on health care, and this bill will surely raise it to new records. Many people seem to think the government can do no wrong, and have endless supply of money. Many people will rather rely on the government’s entitlement programs, than to actually work hard and be independent. Most do not realize (nor care) this is merely the politicians’ agenda, milking the system for what it’s worth, and get re-elected in the coming years.
I wish every responsible American citizens good luck in finding the sanity in all of this.
Photo Credit: Serfdom – Wikipedia
Update: Found this video (below) on Politico.com with Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who is a member of the House Budget Committee. He described the new health care bill as “Fiscal Frankenstein” because it takes money from other social programs that are not suppose to be touched in the first place! It’s fiscally irresponsible, and people should be worried about this.
“The point I’m trying to make is when people find the facts, they know there’s something wrong, they know debt’s getting out of control and they know we’ve got to do something to fix it.”
Rep. Paul Ryan
Tags: canada, citizenship, economy, government, slavery, united states
Building IT
Jot It Down
Hi Rudy!
“Canadian government taxes the population up to 50% (or more) of their gross income. There are also additional sales tax to support it.”
Just curious what stats you found to support this? Canadian tax rates are indeed high, but it’s misleading to imply that all of it goes to health care … and of course, we don’t have a military to support.
The Canadian health care system isn’t perfect, but we are not taxed at 50% or more to support it.
Hi Angela,
You’re right Canadians don’t get taxed 50% of their income – that’s the rate for France! I apologize for that and made the appropriate changes in my post. However, in Ontario, the combined taxes (Federal, Provincial, Municipal, GST, and PST) will equal to more than 50%! Source: TVO
Also, I’m not suggesting all of those taxes goes to healthcare funding – but a major chunk of it. When the cost go up, the government will look for more “resources” to fund it.
Thank you for keeping me honest. 🙂
Thanks for clarifying Rudy. The French are also taxed heavily for socialized day care. In Canada, our government stops paying for procedures when ‘resources’ ($$$) run out. There is also inconsistent “universal” health care from province-to-province. A procedure or new drug covered in one province, is often uninsured in another. Examples include vision care and physiotherapy, which have become privatized in most provinces, but not all. This essentially has led to what I call Canada’s “hidden” two-tier health care system. Curious, did I hear correctly that Obama’s health care plan going to take 20 years to roll out?
Over here in the US, each State can enact its own laws that they deemed suitable. For example, California did away with “gender rating” for insurance to charge more on women’s premiums. New York planned (and failed) to enact the “obesity tax”.
I believe it’s the way it should be. Each State should have the freedom to choose what’s best for their population. It’s much easier to elect the correct local representative, than the federal ones. The laws the Feds put up should be laxed enough for the States to make changes.
The roll out of Obamacare will be fully implemented by 2018, so that’s 8 years from now. You can read them on ChristianPF’s site.
[…] course, my taxes are going up with the new Health Care bill. I won’t know for sure how much, but by 2018, the chart above may change […]