(Poll) A Look Inside the Health Care Reform Bill – What Exactly is It?

Shounak Dharap:

Late Sunday night, the Health Reform Bill that has been passed back and forth like a hockey puck in the Canada – USA Olympic game finally passed in the House, 219-212. At this point, half of you may be cheering, while the rest are grumbling about how American is turning into a socialist country. Odds are however, that you have absolutely no idea what exactly is in the bill. Hell, I bet you don’t even know its name. And while it is a big step for the Obama administration, it falls far short from the radical changes that it is portrayed to make. This bill, though passed by House and Senate, will lie dormant until Obama signs it into law after a thorough review.

The Patient Protection Act Affordable Care Act, or H.R. 3590, has ten titles that are written in the bureaucratic code-speak of Capitol Hill. However, the gist of the major provisions is the following:

-       Amends the Public Health Service Act by preventing insurers from denying coverage to those with preexisting health conditions. As it stands now, insurance companies can deny you coverage if you are already have a preexisting health condition because, in essence, they are saving money by not investing in a failing fiscal source. Once Obama signs this bill into law, they will not be able to deny your claim on those grounds,

-       Imposes an annual fine on individuals who do not buy minimal health insurance by 2014. Perhaps the biggest misconception about this bill is that it is a socialist bill. But this bill does not present a public option. Instead, it simply forces people to utilize the private option available to them.

-       Penalizes businesses of 50 workers or above to pay a fine of up to $750 per worker if they do not offer health coverage. While this is good for employees at medium sized businesses across America, it will drastically curb the rate of growth for these companies, as their initial capital will be caught up in either covering the employees or paying government fines.

-       Expands Medicaid to certain low-income individuals under 65. Currently, Medicaid is not offered for 60% of people below the poverty line. This reduces that number by about 20%.

-       Requires insurers to allow individuals to stay on their parents’ health coverage until they are 26. This increases the age by 2 years from 24.

-       Segregates funds for abortions. The bill differentiates between private insurance premium finds and taxpayer funds, requiring two separate payments. In this way, you are not paying for someone else’s abortion with your taxes, but abortions are still covered. However, no federal funds (except in cases of rape, incest, or health of the mother) will be used to cover abortions – that will be up to the insurance companies alone.  

-       10% excise tax on indoor tanning. While this seems slightly out of place, it was actually the replacement for an overall tax on cosmetic surgery.

-       Increases Medicare tax on the wealthy by .9%. “Wealthy” refers to individuals who earn over $200,000 annually or married couples who together earn over $250,000 annually

This bill is brilliant; it maintains private health  care while imposing enough provisions to ensure that healthcare is still “universal.” It simply expands the public option, but does not offer a new one. It forces people to have health care; individuals who do not purchase health insurance are penalized, and businesses that do not purchase health care for their employees are penalized. The bill’s 10-year cost is projected to be $848 billion, with a deficit reduction of $132 billion.

The health care bill is fully paid for; the new taxes imposed on us are minimal. There are really no large downsides to this bill. All this bill does is basically expand coverage across the board. As college students, we will be covered under our parents’ health insurance till we are out of college. When we get out into the business world, we will have health care coverage provided by our employers. While we may pay slightly more than our parents did, the fact is that we will not have to worry about not having health care. For those who oppose this bill: waiting around for the free market fix obviously wasn’t working. While this bill does take measures to ensure equality, it is a far cry from the liberty-reducing socialist bill that republicans make it out to be.

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