Obamacare

Health Care Reform in America Will Become Possible

Barack Obama managed to push through health care reform that will give unemployed Americans the right to receive medical care. He signed the bill this week at the White House in the presence of House Democrats who supported the reform, as well as members of his administration.

Earlier, President Obama expressed confidence that the passing of the bill will allow Americans to enter into the new era. “As we mark the turning of spring, we also mark a new season in America,” said Obama. According to him, the passing of the bill will allow the reforms that generations of Americans have been fighting for to be set in motion.

As previously reported, the House of Representatives approved the health care reform draft by the majority of votes. This bill will extend medical insurance to virtually all Americans, and at the same time, it will limit the costs of health services. The 32 million Americans who don’t have medical insurance will now have access to medical services.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, over the next decade, this legislation will cost $940 billion. Part of the expense is to be compensated by raising the taxes of the wealthy, imposing fees on pharmaceutical companies, controlling costs of medical services and toughening control over insurance companies. As a result of these measures, the budget deficit is supposed to be reduced by $138 billion in 10 years.

The reform has its opponents, in particular the representatives of 14 states who are trying to block the bill in court. According to them, this bill represents “unprecedented encroachment on the sovereignty of the states.” The opponents believe that the bill illegally adds new expenses to the states’ budgets.

The lawsuit was filed by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who was joined by his counterparts from Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Florida, Utah and Washington. Virginia Attorney General [Ken Cuccinell] filed a separate lawsuit.

All plaintiffs, with the exception of the Louisiana Representative, are members of the Republican Party, CNN says. Meanwhile, McCollum believes that the Democrats may soon join them. Democratic Party National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan called this lawsuit “a waste of state funds during the worst economic crisis in a generation.” So, the proposed reform has all the reasons for implementation.

Commentaries:

Boris Mezhuev, editor-in-chief of Russkiy Zhurnal [Russian Journal]

If we consider all the pros and cons of the health care reform suggested by Obama, we will see that it is a step toward civilization, toward normal European development. The problem of dealing with immigrants will not be solved by denying them access to medical care. Conservative circles in America have a certain cruelty living deep within them. America is a country with lingering sadistic pathos. Honestly, these sentiments come not only from conservatives, but also from all those endless minorities who sometimes have similar feelings toward the majority. But in this case, the opposition to this reform has a certain sadistic feeling to it.

I am by no means a supporter of unlimited immigration; I think that it should be controlled and carried out in the interests of the working population. I do not support the position of “open borders” so that anyone could get in. I am against all these ideas. But if there already are unemployed people in the country, how can you deny them basic medical treatment out of sheer selfishness and greed?

Those who don’t have medical insurance can go to a clinic, but those are in awful condition. American conservative sadism shows itself very clearly by fighting against this reform. In some cases, it shifts. We can criticize George Bush immensely, but his compassionate conservatism was partly realized on the state level, where there were many good programs for those who, let’s say, had crossed the border. Liberal America means compassionate conservatism. Liberal America understood that people could not be left without medical care.

But the mainstream conservatism that is opposed to the reform is not at all composed of people we should look up to. Despite the fact that immigration should be limited, despite all the liberal myths about multiculturalism and making America “a melting pot” (all of it is pointless and doesn’t stand the criticism), the main idea is that the people of your country must have access to medical care (preferably of good quality) regardless of their income and skin color. In my opinion, it is the most basic thing.

The fact that Obama is trying to make this happen is a slow movement from the Wild West toward the standards being practiced in Europe and so on. People should be able to get medical care. It doesn’t mean that they should also be able to go to Las Vegas and enjoy all the perks of a consumerist society. Of course, they must work and have responsibilities, but their health and their physical well-being, as well as their children’s well-being, must be guaranteed by the government. It cannot be helped; there must be a medical tax to support these people.

Evgeniy Satanovskiy, President of the Institute of the Middle East

In America, Obama’s fight against the banks and his health care reform are being characterized as giving advantage to the lumpen before those who work and pay taxes. This is seen as the destruction of America, which is being transformed into a far-left liberal and European-modeled country. As one can see in Europe, this model hardly promotes growth and development for anyone but illegal immigrants from Africa and the Middle East.