Will the controversial health reforms' overhaul lead to a better life?
After many decades of failed endeavours, a Democrat President finally signed the landmark healthcare legislation on March 23, 2010, to overhaul the healthcare system that will ensure 32 million uninsured Americans can access to medical insurance. Two days later, the Bill was voted in the House, with the Democrats prevailing a 220-207 majority in spite of 32 defections and a united Republicans voting against it. Earlier in the same day, the Bill was passed in the Senate where some Democrat senators defied the chosen party line. President Obama can surely now claim it to be a historic event that will seal his position as an American President who succeeded at refurbishing the nation’s healthcare system since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid legislation by President Johnson in 1965. That was also a milestone in the history of America’s healthcare improvement, which extended insurance cover to additional millions for the first time. It also speeded up the process to end segregation in hospitals, as federal payments were hitherto barred for these segregated wards. Later on Bill Clinton tried mightily to bring about a paradigm shift in the healthcare system - even his aides wrote a 240,000-word Bill- but failed miserably as Republicans took control of the Congress in the mid-term elections of 1994. The most important difference between then and now, is that employers and business groups being concerned by the spiraling cost of healthcare decided to sit in the negotiating table, instead of defeating the plan outright as they did in 1993-94. Consequently, Obama’s cookie did not crumble, like before, he showed the world that he can pull it off from the edge - when in his budget for 2010, he asked Congress to keep back $600 billion as a reserve for his ambitious healthcare restructure over the next 10 years. According to Congressional Budget Office, the total cost of the government will be massive $938 billion over next 10 years, and it will reduce federal deficit by $138 billion over the same period.
In the capitalistic economy of United States, the intrinsic “right” to medication never existed - like it exists in Canada or UK - where 830,000 Canadians and 1.8 million Britons are in waiting for treatment or to be admitted in the hospitals. The government there provides these facilities- in fact, in all the countries with socialised medicine ration healthcare by compelling their citizens to stand in the lines to receive scarce treatment. The citizens of these two countries receive additional healthcare allowance from their governments which they can use freely, the way they want. But, the United States is jittery of government intervention in any industry, as one Republican Senator warned that the current Bill will lead to the “quasi-nationalisation of the healthcare industry”.
In spite of criticism, flack and tumultuous debate, there is no doubt that the healthcare bill is historic that can rewrite care for millions; which has brought death threats; and socialism and has opened up a divisive battle with the Republicans in the run up to November elections and beyond. Whether the Bill would turn out to be a boon for socio-economic dynamics remains to be seen, but certainly Obama’s courage and ability of what all other Democrats had promised but failed to deliver, is the legacy that will ensure maximum attention in the years to come.
After many decades of failed endeavours, a Democrat President finally signed the landmark healthcare legislation on March 23, 2010, to overhaul the healthcare system that will ensure 32 million uninsured Americans can access to medical insurance. Two days later, the Bill was voted in the House, with the Democrats prevailing a 220-207 majority in spite of 32 defections and a united Republicans voting against it. Earlier in the same day, the Bill was passed in the Senate where some Democrat senators defied the chosen party line. President Obama can surely now claim it to be a historic event that will seal his position as an American President who succeeded at refurbishing the nation’s healthcare system since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid legislation by President Johnson in 1965. That was also a milestone in the history of America’s healthcare improvement, which extended insurance cover to additional millions for the first time. It also speeded up the process to end segregation in hospitals, as federal payments were hitherto barred for these segregated wards. Later on Bill Clinton tried mightily to bring about a paradigm shift in the healthcare system - even his aides wrote a 240,000-word Bill- but failed miserably as Republicans took control of the Congress in the mid-term elections of 1994. The most important difference between then and now, is that employers and business groups being concerned by the spiraling cost of healthcare decided to sit in the negotiating table, instead of defeating the plan outright as they did in 1993-94. Consequently, Obama’s cookie did not crumble, like before, he showed the world that he can pull it off from the edge - when in his budget for 2010, he asked Congress to keep back $600 billion as a reserve for his ambitious healthcare restructure over the next 10 years. According to Congressional Budget Office, the total cost of the government will be massive $938 billion over next 10 years, and it will reduce federal deficit by $138 billion over the same period.
In the capitalistic economy of United States, the intrinsic “right” to medication never existed - like it exists in Canada or UK - where 830,000 Canadians and 1.8 million Britons are in waiting for treatment or to be admitted in the hospitals. The government there provides these facilities- in fact, in all the countries with socialised medicine ration healthcare by compelling their citizens to stand in the lines to receive scarce treatment. The citizens of these two countries receive additional healthcare allowance from their governments which they can use freely, the way they want. But, the United States is jittery of government intervention in any industry, as one Republican Senator warned that the current Bill will lead to the “quasi-nationalisation of the healthcare industry”.
In spite of criticism, flack and tumultuous debate, there is no doubt that the healthcare bill is historic that can rewrite care for millions; which has brought death threats; and socialism and has opened up a divisive battle with the Republicans in the run up to November elections and beyond. Whether the Bill would turn out to be a boon for socio-economic dynamics remains to be seen, but certainly Obama’s courage and ability of what all other Democrats had promised but failed to deliver, is the legacy that will ensure maximum attention in the years to come.
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