Obama Drops Health Care Reform Bomb

Sunday night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed one of the most important reforms in the history of American politics. From here on, almost the entire population will be in the scope of free or reasonably priced health insurance, just like the European countries. Therefore, the U.S. is achieving a very important social reform.

The House narrowly passed the reform. Despite all the Republicans and 32 Democrats opposing the bill, the reform was passed with 219 yea votes against 212 nays. Similar reforms had been proposed on the House floor in the past, but all were denied. Every single time, denial was predicated on the assumption that such a reform would cause a burden on the budget. As a matter of fact, the current reform is expected to bring a burden of $940 billion over the next 10 years. A great effort was given to the health care revolution, since the project was a prestigious one for Obama all along.

The Financial Burden of the Reform

Moreover, those that backed up the bill argue that, when calculated, the reform will change the state of equilibrium ($138 billion per year) and bring in a return of $1.2 trillion by 2029. For some, this is the biggest budgetary reform since 1993, when such gains were taken into consideration. It serves 95 percent of the population, and it also manages this for much less. Besides, the Congressional Budget Office is working on an indirect special tax for this new service.

The bill provides very limited funds for certain operations. Abortion is included in this because some Democratic representatives are openly against it. The most important part of the new bill is the very high levels of unexpected increased costs. These would be reflected on private insurance policy premiums, and those with lower incomes could not afford them. These increases from here on will be coordinated in conjunction with certain regulations. Last weekend, President Obama was scheduled to travel to Indonesia and Guam. However, he postponed his trip and stayed in Washington. Some interpreted this postponement as how much Obama cared about the passage of the bill, and some pointed out that the task at hand was a difficult one. In our opinion, both are correct. Hence, the voting results attest to this.

Clinton Was Envious as Well

The bill is inspired by President Clinton’s admiration of the British health care system. As you know, the British National Healthcare System (NHS) provides a very efficient and qualified service. On the other hand, the U.S. health care sector is extremely expensive and not very productive. In the end, President Obama accomplished what Clinton could not. Despite all this, very serious lobbying took place in order to block the passage of the bill. Opposition was attributed to the claim that 32 million citizens would suffer a financial loss as a result of the reform. When we consider that around $3.5 million was spent on lobbying in the Congress last year (in both houses) and most of that amount went towards health care, it is better understood how the gains were shaken up.

Obama, who was criticized for being passive for quite some time, accomplished a gigantic reform. Not to mention the fact that it has subsequently followed a crisis. Thus, he has restored his public reputation.