Can someone explain what the Reform is?

[Vryko Lakas]

Vuoto

I'm Canadian, and I have no idea what the Healthcare Reform is.
Can someone explain to me please?

In the US, we have no widely available public healthcare for everyone. Seniors qualify for state healthcare under Medicare, and some low-income families get programs like Medicaid and CHIP for children. Most people buy their own insurance (or sign up for a private plan that their employers have bought), pay out of their own pockets directly for care, or if they can't do either of those their costs are shifted to those who can pay by raising prices.

The reform that just went into law does several things. It more tightly regulates private insurance companies so that they can't turn people down for coverage due to some of their favorite excuses. It boosts protection for some of the existing public programs like states' Medicaid funds that are doled out to those in poverty. It patches up a few loose ends with Medicare, the public health coverage for people over 65 years old. It protects the public children's insurance plans for low-income families from funding cuts.

In return, almost everybody in the US is going to be required to carry some kind of insurance, mostly from the same private companies we already have. Tax breaks will go to those people, families, and small businesses who need the most help covering the cost of private insurance. Also, state-level "health exchanges" will be able to form big groups and negotiate a favorable group rate from private insurers for certain plans that people can buy, similar to what big businesses already do.

This is a bit similar to Switzerland's approach to universal healthcare. Hopefully it will bring the cost of healthcare in the US down to more reasonable levels and help more people get coverage.

[Valixrae]

InsanePoisson

Phukking Writch

How is it not right? They make you have car insurance, and no one complains about that anymore.

Do you have to own a car? No, that is the most useless argument you can bring in here. Must you live? Yes, it is wrong to even suggest to end your life to avoid something the government is forcing upon you so don't even try that one either. So tell me, you think it is okay to pay a fine if you don't want to insure your body? Since when should the government tell you how to take care of YOURSELF? Is this a democracy or a dictatorship? Because, quite frankly, it seems like the latter giving people virtually no choice here.

I hear that argument a lot and I lol.

Do you have a car? Yes I do

Do you have car insurance? Yes I do because one day it may be smashed to bits and need to be repaired

Do I have a body? Yes I do

Do I have health insurance? Yes because one day it may be smashed to bits and need to be repaired.

Is it ok to make the government pay thousands and thousands to keep your body working, no it's not their responsibility. If you don't care enough about your body to have it ensured then why should they?

[This obviously doesn't stand for people that can't afford it and need help]

[Amalia Segreta]

Why wouldn't you do the basic research on it so that you can form your own opinion instead of taking the word of people on gaia who are clearly ignorant?

oh, dumb question, sorry....

[The Inebriator]

Vuoto

I'm Canadian, and I have no idea what the Healthcare Reform is.
Can someone explain to me please?

In a nutshell, before this whole fracas, health insurance was provided by private companies where you paid $X a year so the hospitals won't leave you be when you need medical attention.

After the bill passed, health insurance is now provided by the government where you pay $X a year so the hospitals won't leave you be when you need medical attention.

So pretty much the same, except your money helps other people (and vice versa) instead of ending up in an insurance companies' coffers.

[kingofsteel123]

Vuoto

I'm Canadian, and I have no idea what the Healthcare Reform is.
Can someone explain to me please?

kool

[Vryko Lakas]

The Inebriator

After the bill passed, health insurance is now provided by the government ...

Nope.

Honestly, where are people still getting the idea that there's more government healthcare now than before?

[I H4ve Quit]

So... Why didnt the government elaborate on the bill?
Are they keeping it secret, or has it not been read yet?

I'm starting to think Obama lied to get elected...

[Vryko Lakas]

Vuoto

So... Why didnt the government elaborate on the bill?
Are they keeping it secret, or has it not been read yet?

The text of the bill is fully accessible to the public. It's actually been read scores of times over several revisions, passed, and signed into law. Technically it's not a "bill" anymore.