Change is Here!

Wolf, Richard. “New Baseline of Opinion on Healthcare.” USA Today. www.usatoday.com, 23 November 2009. Web. 30 November 2009 <http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-11-22-health-views-then-and-now_N.htm>.

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This article is written from a left wing point of view. Dr. Michael Bost speaks about how he has seen the decline in emergency rooms and hospitals over the years because of the number of people that he treats that are uninsured. He has watched so many families, even his own, go through serious financial difficulty when a loved one is injured to the point where the ER is the only place they can be. His two boys do not even have health insurance and he has watched them go through hell to get medical attention for themselves and for their families. Dr. Bost could not be happier that there is finally something being done with the health care policy. When Clinton first ever proposed the idea in 1993 and got shot down, Bost was extremely bummed because he thought he might be able to clear out the ER for once. Seventeen years later though, he is even more excited because the number of people without insurance has increased and the strain on his career has become worse. This entire movement, Dr. Bost explains, "could help President Obama and Democrats in Congress and fundamentally revamp the nation's health care system." Obama's approach to the health care plan is much more efficient than it was in Clinton's as well Bost explains. Obama has all medical groups on board: doctors, pharmacists, insurance companies and hospitals. Every group has at least acknowledged that there is something that needs to be done about current health care. "Change is inevitable, and this is the closest that we've ever come. If we don't do anything at all, we've missed an opportunity." The way that this article helps to answer my question is very simple: Obama has appealed to not only the people, but he has insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and pharmacists agreeing with him that there is something that must be done. The development of the health care reform from Clinton to Obama has grown significantly and all the tweaks and issues that the people has in '93 have seriously been lessened and many more Americans are on the bandwagon to get a new health care plan into play. Because so many Americans believe that the proposed health care plan will increase medical affordability and keep uninsured patients that take up time and money out of the ER, it will easily be voted into effect and health care will be provided for all.

What if Patients Can No Longer Choose Doctors?

Santos, Melissa. “Health Care Reform Debate Hits Home.” The News Tribune. The News Tribune, 16
November 2009. Web. 16 November 2009 <http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/856878.html>.

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This article about the recent town hall meeting with Rep. Smith displays two points of view concerning the health care reform bill. Many Republicans and even conservative Democrats are concerned with the effect that the bill potentially has to negatively affect their quality and preference of health care. They worry that at an extreme, they will not even be allowed to select the doctors that they want to see. Delays in health care needs are also a large concern to these same people. It is a concern because ill patients, close to death, will have to be put on hold while all the reforms and changes are made to see that the bill is carried out in it’s entirety throughout all hospitals, insurance companies, and private care clinics. Another argument made against the bill was that it would raise government spending to unacceptable levels and that the runaway cost of government would skyrocket. The other viewpoint, shared mostly by liberal Democrats, is that the health care reform bill will make health insurance cheaper overall and give insurance companies some competition. Though Democrats and Republicans are having a difficult time agreeing that the bill be put into action, they do have one thing in common: there must me major reforms to the bill before it is placed on the desk of President Obama. Rep. Smith quotes, “the bill incorporates too many issues not relevant to providing universal health care.” He implies that the plan in its current form has too many disagreeable aspects to ever reach the House Floor in the current state that it is in. He targeted provisions for end-of-life counseling as something on the bill that he felt was unnecessary on there and should be removed. Another supporter of the health care bill quotes, “[This is] the kind of health care you get [when it’s] geared toward patients, not toward profit-making.” When the town hall meeting was all said and done there were many great pros and cons suggested for thought. Overall, this article should be considered to answer my research question because it directly addresses the concerns of thousands of Americans, and that is whether or not the health care reform bill will decrease the medical care quality of already insured Americans. The article says very clearly that there are several concerned Republicans struggling with the idea that they might not even get to choose their own doctor. This is not the only medical concern shared by Republicans, but also that as the bill is being passed and regulated in hospitals and insurance companies around America, that they will suffer from a lack of vital medical attention because every medical facility will be concerned with the passing of the new bill and what exactly it means for their company. This really helped me to realize that there are millions of Americans aching with concern for the elderly, for their medical emergencies, for the insurance company and even for their ability to choose a doctor that they prefer. It is a very serious matter to both parties but I think my article answers the cry of many scared Republicans regarding how the bill will effect the validity of their medical care after it is passed.