The Great Debate
Today, March 24, the US House of Representatives will vote on the passage of the American Health Care Act which is designed to replace the Affordable Care Act of 2010. The vote was originally scheduled to take place yesterday on the anniversary of the passage of the ACA but was delayed as there does not seem to be enough support within congress to get the measure to pass. President Trump has insisted that the vote be made today and if it fails to pass that he will wash his hands of the entire affair and move on with his other election promises. The challenge that faces congress is that this is an unpopular bill that according to the Congressional Budget Office will strip healthcare from millions of Americans over the next ten years. Others oppose the bill because they feel it does not go far enough to strip the country of national health coverage period. The outcome of this vote today will have an impact on millions of Americans one way or another.
The debate continues even now as I type this and if you are interested in hearing the mindset of the politicians in our legislative branch’s lower house, you can tune in to C-SPAN and be amazed as to the rational of thought from both sides of the aisle. The vote is scheduled to take place at some point this afternoon and after many late-night calls and early morning renegotiating sessions the American Health Care Act has been tweaked to try and win more support but it is still expected to fail to receive the required number of affirmative votes to pass. The new version of the AHCA is considered a bill that is even less attractive that the original as it would be more expensive to implement yet not increase the numbers of people who could be insured. If, by some unexpected reason, the measure suddenly gains the support it needs to pass in the House of Representatives, experts believe that it will certainly fail in the Senate.
What does all this really mean for the American people? Our nation’s healthcare is an incredibly complex system and there is no one right answer. No matter what system is put in place there would be those who disagree with it and want changes to be made to make it better in their eyes. Considerations in national healthcare…who is it going to cover, what is it going to cover and how much is it going to cost the taxpayers. Is the current system perfect? No. Is it better that 20 plus million Americans have some form of health insurance as compared to before the Affordable Care Act? Yes, simple as that. When other industrialized nations around the world started to develop their health care systems it took time…healthcare is an ever evolving giant that no one person or program can pin down the first time in the ring. In taking a critical look at our nation’s health care, in a study of 11 industrialized nations in 2014, we came in last in just about every major care category yet we have the most expensive care in the world. The rising cost of care has outpaced the rest of the industrialized world by a considerable amount and of those other industrialized nations, all of them have some form of national healthcare. Just a point to ponder.
This debate of national health care is one that will rage on for years to come and now that it has become a part of our federal system, I feel it will be impossible to remove or revoke. Over a hundred years ago, President Teddy Roosevelt, the man responsible for many of our National Parks stated, “…the health and vitality of our people are at least as well worth conserving as their forests, waters, lands, and minerals, and in this great work the national government must bear a most important part.” Teddy failed to get elected for president on the Progressive ticket in 1912, if he had, we might have had our national healthcare start its journey over a hundred years ago. As always, thanks for reading. I know many of you are feeling some anxiety over the journey of the new health care bill but it will sort itself out and as a nation I believe that we will move forward and continue to help the people from all corners of our nation live a safer and healthier lives. As we move towards the weekend, remember to take care of yourself and each other, we’re all in this together.
Wm Reid
Best Home Care Services
325 N Eastern Ave
Connersville, IN 47331
765-827-9833
wmreid@bhcshealth.com