Healthcare Reform
President Barack Obama signed healthcare reform into law on March 23, 2010, signifying a historic victory for Democrats, who had been working to pass such legislation for decades. Supporters have characterized the law as expanding availability and affordability for healthcare. Critics, who dubbed it “Obamacare,” call it a dangerous expansion of government power. By the end of 2010, insurance companies will be prohibited from rejecting children with pre-existing conditions, new insurance plans will be required to cover certain preventive care services, including cancer and diabetes screenings, and young adults will be able to stay on a parent’s insurance plan until they turn 26. The law also creates an external review process for consumers to appeal insurance company decisions and invests $15 billion in public health programs. By 2014, denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition will be prohibited, and individuals and businesses employing more than 50 people will have to purchase health insurance or face fines. Responding to the law, 20 states filed a multi-state lawsuit in Florida while Virginia filed its own suit, both questioning the constitutionality of forcing Americans to buy insurance. In early August 2010, a federal judge refused the Justice Department’s request that Virginia’s suit be thrown out. Many Republicans, led by Minority Leader John Boehner, pledged to repeal the law. Republicans and Tea Party activists, calling it a government takeover of healthcare, swore to make healthcare a major issue in the November 2010 midterm elections. An August CNN poll showed 83 percent of Americans say healthcare reform is still “extremely” or “very” important in their decision on who to vote for in Congress.
The latest news on Healthcare Reform
Ornstein and Mann's belated recognition of reality could have been written years ago, and rung true.
Dressing nuns down in such a public and demeaning way not only adds insult to that injury, but damages the image of the church.
Relatively minor items on ALEC's agenda have been twisted into the very ugly charge of racism.
Invoking the Kochs is a misdirection that allows the campaign to talk about secretive right-wing conspiracies rather than confronting the truth.
Focusing on the health of young Americans will lower the cost of healthcare as they age.
The president's reform package is likely to drive federal healthcare spending up, adding as much as a half a trillion dollars to the deficit.
The individual mandate is just the latest in a long string of government interventions that benefit particular private interests at the expense of others.
It is time for leaders of hospital systems and health insurance companies to muster up the courage to take on a problem-solving approach to negotiation.
The Obama administration is claiming the power to do something never before granted to the government.
A ruling that finds the entire healthcare law to be unconstitutional means it will be incumbent on the president to roll out a new proposal.
