Anniversary of Healthcare Reform

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of Obama’s historic healthcare reform bill which had everyone talking. Despite the bill having some positive effects throughout the nation already, Congress is still disputing the benefits of the bill and many states are downright opposing parts of it. Acceptance of the bill still has a long way to go and with so many states trying to adjust the bill to their liking, it feels like it might not end up accomplishing many of its goals.

According to the article “A Year Later, Health Care Still in Dispute” on Freep.com, public attitudes towards the Affordable Care Act have not shifted too much. Democrats strive to praise the bill while Republicans work to put it down and it’s a tug of war on the American public’s emotions. The worst part is that most Americans are still confused on exactly how health care reform and required health insurance will affect them. Finding health insurance is already hard enough so with more people scrambling to get coverage will it make it even harder?

Some tangible gains pointed out in the article include lifting caps on lifetime benefits, and prohibiting discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. Republicans keep stressing their theory that the new bill is affecting the sluggish economy and the requirement that all Americans carry individual health insurance is under scrutiny in many courts. A recent survey released from the Kaiser Family Foundation less than 40% of Americans want a repeal of the healthcare reform bill which leads many to believe it was still the right decision. We still need many more years before the overall impact of the bill can be felt and measured.