Maggie Painter Mrs.

Brown AP English 12, Section 3 30 August 2012 Healthcare

Painter 1

Healthcare is defined as the preser ation of !ental and ph"sical health #" pre enting or treating illness through ser ices offered #" the health profession $ er the "ears, healthcare has graduall" #eco!e one of the !a%or issuer that ha e go ern!ent officials concerned. &n 2011, an esti!ates '' !illion people li ing in A!erica were uninsured, while another 3( !illion people had inade)uate health insurance. *hat nu!#er is increasing each and e er" "ear due to the fact that our econo!" has #een in a slu!p recentl", and also #ecause our nation has spent a !a%orit" of our federal funding to support warfare, our go ern!ent had to cut #ac+ on a lot of pu#lic progra!s. ,ith the lac+ of !one" in circulation, !an" #usiness owners ha e had to cut #ac+ on wages as well as their e!plo"ees. *he !a%orit" of uninsured people state that the" do not ha e health insurance si!pl" #ecause the" cannot afford it. &n an atte!pt to create a solution, President $#a!a for!ulated a uni ersal healthcare progra! called the Afforda#le Health -are act, also +nown as $#a!acare. $#a!a.s healthcare plan, or /$#a!acare/, is said to #e a new proposal. &nstead of the usual two e0tre!es offered1 either go ern!ent1run health care with higher ta0es or letting the insurance co!panies operate without rules1*he $#a!a1Biden plan pro ides afforda#le, accessi#le health care for all A!ericans, #uilds on the e0isting health care s"ste!, and uses e0isting pro iders, doctors, and plans. 2nder the $#a!a1Biden plan, patients will #e a#le to

!a+e health care decisions with their doctors, instead of #eing #loc+ed #" insurance co!pan" #ureaucrats. 2nder the plan, if "ou li+e "our current health insurance, nothing changes, e0cept "our costs will go down #" as !uch as 32,400 per "ear. &f "ou don5t ha e health insurance, "ou will ha e a choice of new, afforda#le health insurance options./ 6*he $#a!a1Biden Plan7 $#a!a.s plan re)uires insurance co!panies to co er pre1e0isting conditions so all A!ericans1 regardless of their health status or histor" can get co!prehensi e #enefits at fair and sta#le pre!iu!s. &t also entails lower costs for #usinesses #" co ering a portion of the catastrophic health costs the" pa" in return for lower pre!iu!s for e!plo"ees. Pre ention of o ercharging doctors for their !alpractice insurance and in est in pro en strategies to reduce pre enta#le !edical errors is included. *he plan esta#lishes a national health insurance e0change with a range of pri ate insurance options as well as a new pu#lic plan #ased on #enefits a aila#le to !e!#ers of -ongress that will allow indi iduals and s!all #usinesses to #u" afforda#le health co erage. &t will also !a+e e!plo"er contri#utions !ore fair #" re)uiring large e!plo"ers that do not offer co erage or !a+e a !eaningful contri#ution to the cost of )ualit" health co erage for their e!plo"ees to contri#ute a percentage of pa"roll toward the costs of their e!plo"ee.s health care. 6Health1-are 8efor!7 $#a!acare will include the reduction costs of catastrophic illnesses for e!plo"ers and their e!plo"ees, as well as re)uire hospitals to collect and report health care costs and )ualit" data. *he plan will refor! the insurance !ar+et to increase co!petition #" ta+ing on antico!petiti e acti it" that dri es up prices without i!pro ing )ualit" of care. 6Medicare and Ho!e Health -are7 B" re)uiring co erage of pre enti e ser ices, including cancer screenings, it will increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attac+s and natural disasters.

*he hope with A-A is that health insurance will #e !ore afforda#le which will lead to #etter health for all A!ericans. &f this does not fall through, we will ha e to resort to 8o!ne"care which is !ore of a traditional healthcare which has not wor+ed out in the past. $#a!acare is a new outloo+ on healthcare, with !an" new #enefits for A!ericans to reap. M" #iggest hope is that A-A stands up to the reasons it was created and we as a countr" #eco!e healthier.