Group Project- Amelia Gutierrez, Emelie Erlandson, Gregory Stout

For Better of For Worse
By Amelia Gutierrez, Emilie Erlandson, Gregory Stout



The new health care program being proposed by Obama's administration poses many questions. We wondered how it would affect the current generation, what would happen to the existing private health care systems, and what does this exactly mean for the basis of our society; socialism? Like everything, there are two sides to every story. There are always those who are all for it, then again, there are also those who greatly despise it. We debated long over the pros and the cons and came to an agreement that it will never be seen one sided. Let's see what the good things that can come are.

Under Obama's new health care plan, he favors students that are covered by their parent's health insurance allowing them to retain that health insurance until they turn 26, instead of the current policy that ends coverage of students after they graduate. Myself being covered by my parent's health insurance, this would be an un-believable stress relieve, college graduates have enough on their plate with having to find a job and start paying back their student loans after 6 months. The last thing someone under that amount of pressure should have to worry about is what would happen if they got sick and couldn't get the proper care they needed.

The plan to prevent health insurance companies from denying a person coverage because of a pre-existing condition would also help not only recently graduated students but everyone who has medical problems that need medical attention. In one case, Rachel Peck, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Maryland, who has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and is receiving continuing treatments that will have to continue after she graduates. Obama's health reform would give Rachel the best chance at getting the treatment she needs so she may live her life to the fullest. She would have the option of staying under her parent's health plan, which would give her the proper care she needed while she searched for a job to pay off her college expense. She would even have the option of picking a health plan that would not turn her down because she has cancer and it would cost too much. The health of our future should not have a price tag on it. With the current health care situation, Rachel will have a hard time getting health insurance apart from her school and parents because of this pre-existing condition.

Speaking at the University of Maryland, Obama is quoted in the Baltimore Sun, with saying, "Just like the change that began in our campaign, it starts with people, especially young people, who are determined to take this nation's destiny into their own hands."

But like we've established, there is always two sides to a story.

Change, it's not always for the best. The evolution of a society as a whole takes years. The Obama administration is looking to instill a new health care plan and they want this change to happen overnight. There can be no guarantee that this change will even be accepted by the majority. The government has very unique ways of concealing truths from the general public. We are here to expose some of those truths and figure out what exactly is going on with the current health care scare.

It is obvious that everyone has their own personal opinions about healthcare; the whole debate has now been beaten to death. So, on a fresher note, in an ever-changing healthcare environment, what is going to happen to the already existing private health care systems?

First of all, the Obama plan states that the insurance companies may not raise the price of coverage for a customer. Because the prices cannot go up, customers will be paying less, and so insurance companies will be making less of a profit. This could cause some of the companies to go under entirely, due to lack of funds. As a customer's health bills go higher, and the prices for insurance stay the same, a deficit is sure to ensue.

The numbers have been ran. It was said by Democrats that the health care reform would cost $848 billion over 10 years. If only one percent of the spending came from the first four years that counts 2010-13. If you begin the spending in 2014, the cost has already rocketed to $1.8 trillion. 2014-23 would add up to $2.5 trillion. Additionally, Obama would be forcing the voluntarily uninsured to purchase health insurance. These mandated costs would be counted as a tax and with these numbers added to the ones I previously mentioned, the total cost rounds off at $6.25 trillion. Diving even more deeply into the cost of this insurance which is supposedly better than what we have now; this policy would mandate that states cover a higher percentage of Medicaid costs, leading to an increase in taxes. Crunching these numbers, this doesn't seem like a good idea at all. Tell me how this is going to save Americans money.

An insurance company also may not drop a customer completely when they need that coverage the most. This prevents customers from being stranded in debt, and without an insurance provider. This forces the companies to keep a customer even though they might have chronic health problems. Having to pay for these ongoing health issues could also cause these companies to lose money, and go under fast.

Under the Obama plan, there will be a new insurance marketplace created. This will allow people to shop around for the best insurance prices, and allow them to shop for the cheapest plan that will meet their specific needs. For existing businesses, however, this means that there will be competition, and that each company is going to have to fight for their customers. Every company is going to have to create prices that can compete with their fellow insurance companies, or else they will lose their business.

There is no evidence here that saving the money for the average Americans is the main concern of the Obama administration so honestly, there has got to be an something underneath this health care reform that is being hidden from our eyes. There has to be something more.

Capitalism is going underground and socialism is rising to the occasion. President Obama wants to now control our health care, and have it be a legal requirement for everyone. Putting aside the effects of current health care plans and ignoring what that means for business and the downward spiraling economy, how is this really going to help? Former president Bill Clinton and Sen. John Breaux proposed this idea last February. Hillary Clinton also attempted to pass a health care bill back in 1994. President Barack Obama's plan is to destroy the American health care system to turn America into "a full-blown Eurosocialist state" David Limbaugh said in an article on townhall.com

However, information is being brought to the surface and it is clear that there is no rational explanation for Obamacare other than his need to expand government control over every aspect of American lives. The only goal that is apparent is that it would offset the deficit, and only temporarily. It was noted that there is no intention of immediately cutting out private insurances however, they would be subject to Federal regulation. Seriously, tell me that this is socialism.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele had some very serious points in an interview at the National Press Club last Monday. "This is an unprecedented government intrusion into the private sector.", ".It is more debt that our children will have to pay because this reckless administration has an unrestrainable urge to splurge." His points were that the government is encroaching too close on individual freedoms and responsibilities. They control almost everything, there is little that the people can do for themselves anymore. And his second point laid heavily on the concept that this health care will be cheap and required by everyone. Well, Mr. President, the money has to come from somewhere and being in a recession right now, where is this money going to come from; a loan that will need to be paid back eventually and by our children. Following generations will pay for health care that's established now; it's like how the younger generations are dealing with global warming even though we never contributed to the problem. Is it fair to burden the generations to come with a debt they may never see benefits from.



The socialism outlook for this public option plan is hard to decipher. The government has done so well to hide any true intentions for this plan but as Phil Kerpen says in an article on HumanEvents.com, "the 'public plan option,' may also fail as its intended purpose is more widely understood." The payment for this bill is a single-payer system and it's been proven that Americans don't generally like a single-payer system because it's characterized by socialism.



Don't get me wrong I don't disagree that something needs to be done to help get our economy back on the fast track. But starting with a government health care system, may not be the right thing to do. This is the beginning of an end. Socialism may not be a bad idea, in some other countries it seems to work for them. But when our freedoms are taken away, even as simple as the choice to be insured or not, people will start to act out. Our founding fathers are turning in their graves right now at just the proposal of this socialist reform.


But that's the great thing about public change, you are always able to make up your own decisions about whether the change is good or bad. We just wanted to give you some insight to aid in your feelings of this particular subject; a fresh look at something deeper than the things that have already been addressed to some exhausting extent.

Check out these links!! :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUoUE7HQ4K0
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/15/college-student-challenge_n_260426.html