Will Medicare Survive?

There was back and forth negotiations among the politicians in Washington DC. Finally, they passed a bill, a new healthcare bill 2010 reforming the current bill.The reforms were viewed by many as being counter healthcare and many wants the status quo maintained. For fear of change, many people have viewed this bill negatively with skepticism and without thinking about the necessary amendments to add to this bill to make it successful.

Many interest lobby groups have emerged with their vested interests masquareding as public watch groups while in real sense they want to protect their own selfish interests. They are succeeding by instilling fear to change among the public especially the millions of baby boomers who are worried about their health and medicare. Many aging individuals do not want to dwell in the changing healthcare bill for fear of the unknown and the perceived negativity the bill has received from the self seekers and lobbysists.

This bill should be a platform on which very useful amendments can be introduced in the house to make it suitable for the nation without necessarily shooting down the whole bill and throwing all the achievements made through the window.The lobbysists and those with selfish interests should leave the politicians alone and stop misleading the public that is already polarised and that holds politicians with mistrust and low esteem.

Those with selfish interests are the insurance companies who are worried about their cake shrinking and bonuses down-sizing. Similarly,the pharmaceutical companies,medical supplies companies, medical providers such doctors,dentists,nurses and hospital organizations, and politicians are worried about their profits shrinking.What these individuals fail to understand is that this bill would bring changes that will favor all the players. Unlike,the current bill which did not favor the public, this bill favors everyone including the public if all the necessary amendments are introduced and passed whole-heartedly.

The public has been misled and fed with lies about the consequences of this bill without the public being educated on the intentions of the bill ,and the merits and demerits of the bill.Some of the interested parties have referred to it as obamacare,others have labelled it social medicine. What the public should realize is that whatever these selfish individuals call it they are only interested in protecting themselves and they have no public interest at heart. None of them truthfully cares about the public although they may pretend to be doing or saying so.They are creating fear to the public and showing that this bill is not for the public interest. Instead of supporting the bill and working together to bring the necessary amendments and reforming changes that will favor all parties without vested interests.

What the healthcare bill 2010 means?

It means:

Positives attributes;

1. More Americans are going to get medical insurance. Currently, about 50m Americans have no insurance and they do not get primary healthcare. I know many individuals in my neighborhood who have not seen a doctor in years due to lack of insurance and they do not qualify for medicaid.
2. Insurance companies are not going to descriminate against us. If you have previous medical conditions, the insurance companies are not going to deny you medical insurance coverage.
3. Companies will have to dig deeper in their pockets to provide insurance coverages for the employees. Which ensures that employers are not getting away from their responsibility of providing healthcare insurance for their employees.
4. There will be more emphasis on preventative healthcare than curative healthcare cutting costs for treatment, which is a saving to insurance comapnies,employers and the governments; medicare and medicaid programs.
5. There will be emphasis on cost cutting. Cheaper generic medications will be available cutting the costs of medicines.
6. More research on novel medical techniques,drugs,medical equipments, and procedures and treatments.

Perceived negatives:

1. The insurance companies and their executives are worried that their bonuses will shrink since many people who "otherwise" were considered uninsurable in the current bill are going to be insured. The mathematics is simple. Many people, upto 50m, who are currently uninsured will join the insurance market. This increase in the number of sublects seeking insurance means more money in form of premiums for the insurance companies. Therefore, as the insurance companies pay for more claims so does the insurance companies get more cash in premiums.A balance may be achieved.
2. The pharmaceutical companies believe they will lose out on their huge profits due to the introduction of comeptition with cheaper generic drugs.The truth of the matter is the executives for these companies believe they will take a paycut in the new health bill if implemented.This is not the case. Competition will encourage more research for novel molecules that will benefit these companies financially and the public on the other hand.
3. The politicians believe that their interests will not be safeguarded. The money they receive from these companies; insurance companies,pharmaceutical companies,other healthcare organizations; for campaigns will not be forthcoming.This is not the case. There is always going to be lobbysists and interested parties among politicians.
4. Lobbyist fear they will be out of work if the bill succeeds. This is a perception not true. There is so much that needs to be worked on in different sectors of the economy and healthcare is just one of them.The pool for interest groups is ever growing.
5. The public has been made to believe that they will not receive health care at the same level they are getting now. This is untrue. The bill will allow more americans to access healthcare which they will otherwise not. Many neccessary amendments need to be introduced here to allay these fears. The public has been made to believe that they will have no access to doctors of their choice, hospitals,treatments and rehabs.Untrue,it just means more americans will have access to the healthcare system calling for the establsihment an efficient healthcare system which is lacking currently.
6. Medics are worried they will not be able to charge the ridiculously large fees they are currently charging for their services making it unaffordabble to those who are not insured. The medics are worried about their bottom-lines.The curtails operating between the insurance companies,the pharmaceutical and medical companies, and the medical services providers; the doctors,the hospitals and clinics are worried about their fees. This is unfounded fear of the facts. This will encourage specialization among the medics,increased service delivery efficiency and more americans benefiting from the healthcare system. Many people will be insured and more fees payable maintaining the balance. Example here. First scenario:10 people visit the doctors office per day paying 200 dollars per visit means 2000 dollars per day. Second scenario: What this bill may mean is 20 people visit the doctor per day pay 100 dollars per visit means 2000 dollars. In the second scenario many americans get service that they would otherwise not afford as compared to the first scenario. The service providers in the two cases are able to reach more americans in the second scenario and are still able to sustain and maintain their lifestyles.

 All the parties with the different interests  should now come together and make the necessary amendments to reform the healthcare bill so that it brings meaningfull changes that will improve healthcare for all americans without serving the self- interests of a minority group. The fear for the changes to our healthcare should be thrown out wholesome. The healthcare bill needs a honesty and responsible debate from all the people of this great nation in order to add to it usefull amendments and substract from it useless clauses that seem to benefit only a minority and safe-guard the interests of the public.