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Insurance Reform

With the failed universal healthcare proposal made by President Bill Clinton during his administration, it is of little surprise that Obama has his critics when it comes to his ideas for reformation of the current system. What exactly are the main points being made by the opposition? Several of the core problems that experts feel America will face in the wake of Obama healthcare reform are:

1. The government will present unfair competition – This is a complaint that Obama himself has agreed needs to be addressed. The problem here is that when the government offers a healthcare plan that is so reasonable, even those with excellent insurance will most likely drop their current insurance carriers and choose the new government-run plan. This will put more people on the plan than can be planned for and will ultimately result in a problem with insurance companies loosing business and the domino effect this will have on concurrent job losses.
2. Employers will lose the incentive to offer health insurance – Again employers dropping their offer of healthcare altogether, expecting the government to pick up the cost, will likely cause a ripple effect that is unfavorable to all.
3. America prefers our country to be run on competition, not a government-run system – Critics of the Obama healthcare bill and insurance reform believe it isn’t the “American Way” for the government to intervene in the natural competition this country was built on. They agree that there are problems within the healthcare system, but having the government jump in and take over to fix these problems is not the solution.

In addition to these concerns, many are concerned about the cost of the proposed reform to the healthcare system. One proposal to help pay for this cost is to lower the tax deduction on charitable contributions. Charities, of course, have mixed feelings about this idea; they are in favor of a better healthcare system, but are afraid of the cost to them in the long run.

Fortunately for us all, President Obama is taking his time to look at all the problems that will likely arise from the reform and making a strong effort to address these issues. America at this point, needs reforming when it comes to the current state of the healthcare system. We can only hope that in the end, the president’s plan will be an improvement for all.