“In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men.” ~Cicero
It is impossible to be unaware of the heated healthcare debate going on in the Supreme Court regarding The Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to by some as “Obamacare”) that was passed two years ago. The individual mandate's constitutionality is on trial, and because the mandate is on trial, the entire ACA is, therefore, also on trial. By the time the Court issues its final judgment in June, the political pundits, working overtime in this election year, will try to convince us of what we, the people, should have regarding our own individual healthcare coverage.
I felt pleased when The Affordable Care Act was passed. I was thrilled to know more families would now have healthcare coverage. People who had gone without critical medications due to their high cost could now afford them. There would no longer be restrictions preventing someone with a pre-existing condition from qualifying for a health insurance plan. Parents (like me) would now be allowed to have their children remain on their insurance policy until age 26. Lifetime limits on caps would be eliminated, and Medicaid programs would be expanded. These are just a few areas The Affordable Care Act provides for an aging population and their families.
Many are speculating what will happen to ACA if it is deemed unconstitutional. Some observers feel the Act will have to be totally dismantled, making it necessary to begin structuring a new and improved healthcare plan. What a pity. To have so much taken away from so many is more than a shame. Can you imagine (and some of you certainly can) if you were relying on the provisions of ACA to enable you to live a healthier life, and now those provisions will be taken away?
I certainly don’t want to bring politics into this blog. An Empowered Spirit is dedicated to all of us to have a safe place to gather and discuss issues that may guide us toward healthier lives. After considering whether I should write about The Affordable Care Act, I decided that any blog dedicated to people aged 50+ should include a posting about our healthcare and how the Supreme Court decision could affect all of us.
I’d love to hear how The Affordable Care Act has impacted you. Has it affected you positively, negatively, or not at all? Do you think there is a better or different healthcare system that we could benefit from? Let me know your thoughts, so we may begin a meaningful and constructive discussion on what we, the people, believe is right - for us!
“The first wealth is health.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hi, Cathy,
The ACA is indeed a relevant issue to discuss. I hope the SCOTUS does not strike down the mandate. Though I am a proponent of single-payer national health insurance, I'm realistic enough to know this won't happen--so any new program that covers as many people as possible that also eliminates pre-existing condition denials is an important step to take. The argument that federal government mandates are unconstitutional and invasive doesn't hold water, IMHO, simply because there are many of them across the board that protect us and which remain unchallenged simply because they are not hot-button issues on the Hill.
I recently went on Medicare Part B and D and dropped BCBS coverage, mostly because my BCBS deductibles were so high that I have gone deeply in medical debt. Medicare deductibles are quite reasonable by comparison. I'm not sure how the ACA affects me at this point, but I am relieved to be on Medicare now and wish this program could someday be our national health insurance for everyone. Funding for a NHS could be accomplished in my opinion, but because it is such a highly-charged political issue, I doubt that such a major retooling of health care will happen in my lifetime.
Let's hope the mandate sticks and that the implementation of the ACA can go forward in the coming years.
Kim
Hi Cathy.
I hope you will not consider this a "political" statement - it is not. It is a moral statement, based on my convictions - meant to express why someone would be against something with a lovely title like "affordable care."
I certainly share your ideals when it comes to goals for a health plan. But there are many ways to achieve affordable healthcare without forcing people to go against their own consciences. I can't stand behind Obamacare, especially as a Catholic, because it would force me to pay for abortion and contraception - two actions that harm the individual as well as society. Why would the president want us to pay for abortion and birth control? Because he wants votes the Planned Parenthood lobby can deliver. He would rather see Catholic hospitals, schools and extensive social services shut down than concede that forcing us to pay for these actions is wrong. We need to cover health services that heal - I'm all for that. Abortion and contraception don't heal anything...one ends a life, and the other either ends a life (in the case of abortifacients) or prevents a natural end of a human act. No one should have to be complicit in that.
Perhaps the best role of government, other than that for which it is Constitutionally prescribed, is funding research critical to the general welfare of the public; that is, We the People. Once government steps beyond these boundaries, the bureaucratic and political processes that are applicable and inherent to that government, become applied to those aspects of our lives over which they have jurisdiction. We are all familiar with these dominions; a cash- bleeding Amtrak, a time draining DMV, Medicare rules and regulations that stupefy anyone attempting comprehension and a 9 million-word tax code that no one understands.
What are the outcomes then, of such over-governance, Federal involvement in our daily lives? The facts all point to the creation of a large dependent class of citizenry. At this time almost 50% of the eligible public do not pay federal income tax and soon, they will become a majority.
When this dependency subsumes American medicine, the control of patient care and choice no longer belongs to the physician and the patient; it becomes the domain of the Federal Government. I have practiced Family Medicine in Canada and have been a Clinical Instructor in Orthopedic Surgery in Great Britain. In both instances I have seen what a centrally controlled healthcare system has done to patient care and patient control of their own health. The United States is embarking upon the same path as those well-intentioned countries but with a much larger, more medically complex and violent culture and population.
The issue of an imposed inclusion of contraception and seventy plus other mandated unfunded healthcare treatments is just the beginning of a progressive, underfunded Federal control of our healthcare that fully flowers in 2014. The result: increased costs of private sector healthcare insurance that will drive everyone to that provided by government. That you can keep the insurance you have is now being shown to be a de facto false statement. Any private healthcare insurance policy that does not include these unfunded mandated treatments will be illegal regardless of the cost or who pays for it.
Those amongst us, including the 1%, the upper middle, middle and working classes, the Productive Classes, who pay federal income tax, will soon be a minority and they are being mandated to pay for those who will soon be the dependent majority. When you say that dependent people can now "afford" healthcare, you dismiss this very critical factor.
Congress has created a healthcare law with no specifics that essentially transfers 1/6th of the GNP from the private sector to government control. It has created a vehicle whereby one person, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has crushing power that goes far beyond the initial intent of providing healthcare to the 9 million people of this country who truly are uninsured.
The major concern should not be whether contraception is mandated but precisely who is going to pay for all of these government edicts at a time when we are facing ruinous debt as a Nation; the answer- you, and you and your children, your loved ones and parents will access fewer healthcare options as a result.
A possible solution? In 2009, the state of Texas spent $23.7B for Medicaid/CHIP or 6.5% of the $366.6B spent by the Federal government. If we gave a $15,000 per year voucher to the 9 million people who truly are uninsured in this country, the entitlement cost would come to $135B.
Do we spend 135B in 2012 dollars or more than 366.5B in 2009 dollars? I think Americans are smart enough to figure this out while preserving their freedom of choice.
Mitchell Brooks, M.D.
http://www.hotnationtalk.com
http://www.mitchellbrooksmd.com
An article that may interest your readers.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/04/doctors_feeling_obamas_crushing_health_care_policies.html
I personally am very much opposed to the ACA. I believe it is certain to result in more expensive, lower quality, less available care for the majority of Americans. It will be particularly harsh on the elderly and people like myself, with chronic illnesses. There will be some who benefit, but they are a small minority.
One thing I can't understand, is why anyone would want an entity that is 16+ Trillion in debt, that runs trillion $ annual deficits and that is notorious for waste and corruption to be in charge of their health care. Some even want the Federal government to be solely responsible for health care. Astonishingly, for some, this is their #1 issue. If a private insurer had the same record as the Federal government, they would be out of business, because no one would do business with them. Literally no one.