Health Insurance Articles
Why The New Health Bill Is Facing Such Tough Opposition
2011-08-06
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law, signaling a huge change in the way health care is run in the country. The bill faced many obstacles on its way to the President and many people opposed it from the very beginning. But health care has always been a hot topic in the United States. In just the last decade or so, the cost to insure each American has gone up dramatically, ultimately affecting health insurance coverage and rates. Although coverage has gone down, rates have sky rocketed, forcing many to forgo health insurance in order to avoid the high premiums. Now with the new health care mandate, health insurance for low income and disadvantaged Americans is once again possible. However, the new health bill continues to face opposition from some people because of its controversial initiatives.
Health insurance coverage is expected to expand and allow more individuals in the country to have access to medical assistance. This may not all be good news to everyone, though. The new health bill will actually try to force several initiatives to be followed for this wider coverage. One example comes in the plan to have all physicians provide free preventative care to patients. Although this is highly beneficial to American citizens who desperately need to see a doctor and ensure the health of their families, it is not so beneficial to doctors. It may mean less money coming in, even though the government plans on funding the free preventative care measure. This is also not beneficial to insurance providers, as this is the bulk of their health insurance plans. Without preventative care, many people will opt for the most basic plans or only choose specific portions to add to their policy, thereby reducing the overall cost of the policy. It may mean big losses for insurance companies.
The Affordable Insurance Exchange facet of the ACA is also causing some to oppose the implementation of the bill. This exchange will give more people more options when it comes to selecting a provider and changing their health insurance plans, ultimately giving them more affordable policies. But this may not bode so well for providers, who will likely take a loss in customers. At the same time, the government is fronting the bill for this and many other initiatives, which many members of Congress oppose. Now, with the growing fear of our national debt rising to extreme highs, the government and American citizens will continue to see public spending as a negative. The new health bill will likely continue to gain opposition from different affected parties as more of the initiatives go into effect in coming years.
