Spring Break
Health in Red and Blue
Matthew Louis Edwards '10
Issue date: 11/3/08 Section: Opinion
The 2008 presidential election is ripe with promise and ideology. Millions have engaged in activism in what many consider a contest for America's future. The next four years will either usher in unparalleled change or perpetuate a model of concentrated wealth that has characterized the conservative economic policies of the past eight years. Now that 47 million Americans do not have health insurance, the crisis in healthcare coverage has become one of the most pivotal issues of the campaign. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain posit perspectives on healthcare coverage as different as the parties themselves. Senator McCain supports a healthcare plan with reduced governmental oversight. Senator Obama envisions a healthcare system in which the United States government takes a more direct role in amending the crisis. While both plans seem highly ambitious and slightly overstated, Obama's plan offers a more comprehensive and nuanced approach to providing healthcare coverage for all Americans. According to the Wall Street Journal, not only is McCain's plan inferior to Obama's, but the heavy taxes on workers and employers would create dire economic circumstances to an already worsening recession.
Now deep in the campaign process, the stances of the respective candidates seem to gain more clarity by the day. This election season has highlighted the fundamental differences between the Republican and Democratic parties: the Democratic ideal of a stronger government with more direct economic oversight, and the Republican vision of personal fiscal responsibility. These values are manifested in each candidates' healthcare plan.
Senator Obama's "Affordable and Portable Coverage for All," while no doubt ambitious, addresses the current trends in American healthcare: rising healthcare costs, spiking insurance premiums, and soaring numbers of uninsured Americans. Under the Obama plan, every American, regardless of their personal history of health and disease, will be guaranteed insurance eligibility. According to Obama's plan, co-pays, deductibles and premiums-which have increased more than four times faster than wages over the past six years-will be curbed and reduced. More direct oversight of insurances companies will minimize these costs. Additionally, mental health treatment and maternity care will be expanded alongside federal subsidies that will complement an individual's private or public insurance coverage. The plan will increase employer regulation by requiring that private plans meet the basic standards of the public plan, and by applying economic pressure (increased taxes) to companies that do not abide by the new policies. In addition, current governmental health programs like Medicaid and SCHIP will be expanded. Obama intends to sustain the success of American healthcare by investing in biomedical research, a trend that has been reversed in the past few years as the government's commitment to scientific research has withered away. His administration will continue the commitment to expanding healthcare coverage that he has demonstrated by sponsoring the SCHIP Reauthorization Act of 2007 and legislation that expanded healthcare for nearly 150,000 children and adults.
Now deep in the campaign process, the stances of the respective candidates seem to gain more clarity by the day. This election season has highlighted the fundamental differences between the Republican and Democratic parties: the Democratic ideal of a stronger government with more direct economic oversight, and the Republican vision of personal fiscal responsibility. These values are manifested in each candidates' healthcare plan.
Senator Obama's "Affordable and Portable Coverage for All," while no doubt ambitious, addresses the current trends in American healthcare: rising healthcare costs, spiking insurance premiums, and soaring numbers of uninsured Americans. Under the Obama plan, every American, regardless of their personal history of health and disease, will be guaranteed insurance eligibility. According to Obama's plan, co-pays, deductibles and premiums-which have increased more than four times faster than wages over the past six years-will be curbed and reduced. More direct oversight of insurances companies will minimize these costs. Additionally, mental health treatment and maternity care will be expanded alongside federal subsidies that will complement an individual's private or public insurance coverage. The plan will increase employer regulation by requiring that private plans meet the basic standards of the public plan, and by applying economic pressure (increased taxes) to companies that do not abide by the new policies. In addition, current governmental health programs like Medicaid and SCHIP will be expanded. Obama intends to sustain the success of American healthcare by investing in biomedical research, a trend that has been reversed in the past few years as the government's commitment to scientific research has withered away. His administration will continue the commitment to expanding healthcare coverage that he has demonstrated by sponsoring the SCHIP Reauthorization Act of 2007 and legislation that expanded healthcare for nearly 150,000 children and adults.
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Amazon Herbs
posted 11/05/08 @ 5:53 AM EST
Obama won! He is the first black president of America. Presidential candidate Ralph Nader said that Obama was an Uncle Tom, meaning a traitor to his race. (Continued…)
Natural Cures
posted 11/05/08 @ 10:04 PM EST
Obama won! He is the first African American president of America. Presidential candidate Ralph Nader said that Obama was an Uncle Tom, meaning a traitor to his race. (Continued…)
Megan
posted 3/05/09 @ 2:25 AM EST
Presidential candidate Ralph Nader said that Obama was an Uncle Tom,
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