Health Insurance Articles

How Health Insurance Reform Will Keep Costs Affordable

2010-08-02

With the election of President Obama has come a great deal of talk about health care reform in the United States. Everything from town hall meetings to absolute panic has been the result of President Obama's push to introduce a health care bill that would change the way health insurance companies operate. For many Americans, it is unclear exactly what the plan will change, or how their insurance coverage will be affected. Of course, one of the biggest questions to plague the minds of Americans is whether or not this new health care reform will cause the costs of health insurance to skyrocket. Here are a few reasons why this should not be the case.

First, for those Americans with existing health insurance coverage, very little, if anything, will change. The proposed reform will not prevent insurance companies from continuing to sell their services, but will introduce a further level of oversight and regulation that will be conducted by the federal government. Insurance companies will, in theory, be held to a common federal standard of care. If they fall below this line of care, they could be fined or potentially forbidden from selling insurance. While some worry that this will drive up the cost of health care as companies claim they cannot generate as much profit, this is also intended to be addressed by the bill, making it difficult for companies to attempt such a thing.

For those that do not have health insurance or have minimal coverage, the reform represents the first affordable option for health care in a very long time. With more and more Americans finding themselves without viable coverage as businesses fail and employees are laid off, the lack of affordable, individual options has left millions without the coverage that they need in the event of an emergency. The reform is intended to introduce a government-regulated insurance exchange of private options that would compete with other companies. By combining this with a beefed-up version of Medicare and Medicaid, the Obama administration hopes to create a nation where all its citizens have health care options.

Currently, the plan faces criticism both from insurance companies and those who are used to the traditional method of American health care. While the reform is far from perfect and will have to be refined a great deal before it can be fully implemented, it represents a new option for the future of health care, one in which every American will have access to the services and providers that they need, when they need them. Implemented correctly, the new plan should keep health insurance costs stable and affordable.