FRO13 BWB

Although the government does not have an “obligation” to ensure that all Americans are properly insured, I would say it is a responsibility of the government to ensure wellbeing of its citizens. Free and affordable medicare is a desirable goal and it is not impossible either, as proven by many European countries. However, with trillions of dollars in debt, every one knows that the United States has enormous difficulty reaching that goal. I am no expert at politics and definitely not at American politics, therefore it is not fair of me to take a stand on either side. However, people of the United States have given their trust to this government to rule and to represent them. Thus as citizens of this country, they have the right to be dependent of this government. Those people include the people mentioned in the article, the people who really need Medicaid benefits. I don’t know the solutions of how to provide healthcare coverage to those who really need it, but the government should really figure it out. I am not saying the government has to take care of all Americans but there must be something else to do than neglecting those people with lowest income. In America, the place where everyone claims to have equal rights, it’s sad that Ms. Arbila still needed to ask the question, “Why we don’t have the same opportunities as the others?”

The New York Times study revealed that about 14 million Americans are “uninsured and living in poverty” and while not surprised by this statistic, I do believe that it is a very saddening one and one that I believe should change.  As the article explains, not everyone under the poverty line is a “bum.” Many of these people are the working poor and their jobs do not provide them with coverage.  It’s simple: not all jobs just come with insurance. Nurse aids, cooks and cashiers are all included in this statistic, and they are all hardworking. I do not believe that we should just let these people’s health suffer when they are working just as hard as the rest of us, and for lower wages at that.  I believe that the government should provide healthcare for everyone, and no one should be left uninsured.  No one should be turned away at the hospital or at doctors when their lives and livelihoods are on the line.

I am not surprised one bit that there are over 10 million Americans living in poverty without any health insurance. In fact, like many other people, I knew this was the case before the Affordable Care Act was passed and before the health care debate even began. Obviously, any society is better and more effective in which more of its citizens are insured. However, I do not believe that it is the governments obligation to provide healthcare for the unfortunate. Personally, I believe in small government; a government that does not get involved in the economic or social lives of its citizens. This is without even mentioning the economic consequences of providing healthcare for all of the citizens.

I agree with the Supreme Court decision that left it up to the states on whether or not to expand Medicaid, as outlined in the Affordable Care Act. I don’t see how one can make a good argument that the court authorized unintentional discrimination. Just because a southern state refuses to expand a social entitlement program, does not mean that they are racists or that they are discriminating. The reason that these states declined to expand Medicaid starts off with the fact that they simply don’t have the money for it. Many of these states are among the 10 poorest in the nation. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government is not subsidizing the whole new Medicaid program, it is the states who are going to have to pay for a pretty hefty percentage. How are poor states, with poor citizens, with low taxable incomes, supposed to pay for free healthcare for its citizens. The only way to do that would be to run a deficit. New York is one of the states that chose to participate in the Medicaid expansion program. Certainly, this is going to help a large number of people, I am not denying that. But at the expense of whom? The other 90% of the state who pays for their own health insurance with their own hard earned money.

The intention of the Affordable Care Act is to help provide health insurance for all Americans, and it will ultimately fail to do that. What people must realize is that this law does not give people health insurance. All it does is provide a mandate for individuals to buy health insurance, and subsidize some of the costs for those who cannot afford to pay for a plan. This is not going to help poor Americans who need health insurance. In fact, even with subsidies, many people still aren’t going to afford to purchase a plan, and hence they are going to get fined 1% of their income in 2014, and an increasing percentage in following years. The law also has a terrible impact on the economy. The employer mandate is forcing companies to cut the hours of their employees to part time, in order to not have to provide health care for them. Now look at what happens as a result of that. A single mother who was previously working 45 hours per week and could not afford health insurance, is now working 28 hours per week. Now even with subsidies, how is she supposed to buy a plan? Now take 1% of her income away in 2014, and her and her child(ren) are worse off than they were in the first place. A key provision of the Affordable Care Act is disallowing health insurance companies from denying somebody coverage because of preexisting conditions. This, by itself is definitely a positive. However, this is causing health insurance premiums to skyrocket. By covering people who are at a higher risk, health insurance companies are spending more money per person that they cover, on average. Basic economics tells you that instead of making less profit, they are going to increase premiums across the board. Once again, hurting the poor and middle class. America clearly needs healthcare reform and we need more people to be covered. However, Obamacare is hurting the same people that it meant to help.

• The New York Times study revealed that about 14 million Americans are “uninsured and living in poverty.”  I’m not surprised since there are ~314 million people living in the US thus ~4% living in poverty and being uninsured is expected.  I personally don’t believe government should intervene with healthcare because no where in the constitution does it give them power to do so, in fact healthcare isn’t even a constitutional right or even mentioned in the constitution it’s simply a commodity. The extent I believe government should be responsible for assisting in providing subsidized healthcare coverage is for emergency treatment or life threatening conditions, perhaps special consideration for children under the age of 19 for clinical purposes, then after age 19 it should be the patients responsibility to find a healthcare provider.