Health Care Reform: A Mixed Bag

By Aydrian Elliot

The following article is an opinion piece regarding the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This health care reform bill will drastically change the American health care system. The piece offers the author's commentary regarding the true equity of the reform and examines the issue from the perspective of Americans on both sides of the controversy.

Rachel Williams' hostess job disappeared in late August of 2009. The restaurant where she worked was forced to downsize due to decreased profits from the recession. She did not lose her health care though, because she never had access to it.

As a part-time employee, Williams was never eligible for health insurance because her employer only offered benefits to full-time employees.

Many other Americans currently face the same dilemma as Williams. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2008, approximately 46.3 million Americans do not have health insurance. On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the controversial Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as the health care reform bill, into law. Williams sees legislative success on the issue as a triumph of the American dream.

"It really restores some of my faith in humanity," Williams said, as her eyes beamed with happiness. "America has finally decided to care for all its citizens. By having a better health care system, we might actually be able to help and lead our uneducated and unfortunate people in the right direction. The majority of the people that will be affected have mental or physical health issues that, if dealt with, could help them become better members of working society. This could help people take care of issues such as depression and drug addiction."

As part of the overhaul, all Americans will be required to have health insurance. Individuals who do not purchase health insurance will face an annual fine of $695. The plan will expand Medicaid coverage to include a family of four with an annual income of up to $29,327. A federal subsidy will be available for individuals without insurance, who earn as much as four times the federal poverty level of $22,050 for a family of four. The subsidy is intended to help them cover the cost of purchasing mandatory health insurance on a state funded insurance exchange.

The White House estimates that by 2014, reform measures will make health care accessible and affordable to an additional 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured. Although the new legislation will offer peace of mind to millions of Americans, it unfairly places the burden on high-income earners. It does little to reform health care in a manner that will benefit middle-class families already receiving health insurance from their employers. Furthermore, multi-billion dollar health care reform is the last thing that should be on the shopping list of a country with a national debt that exceeds $12 trillion.

According to the Title IX Revenue Provisions of the health care bill, the majority of the funds needed to extend health care benefits to all Americans will be raised by increasing taxes for high-income earners. Under the new law, an additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax will be assessed on earned income from individuals making more than $200,000 annually or $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly. In addition, this group can expect to see a 3.8 percent tax assessed on unearned income which includes interest, dividends, and rent from owned property.

According to an April 15 Gallup Poll, 49 percent of Americans view health reform negatively, while 45 percent view it as a positive change. Many of the people opposed to the bill think that expansion of health insurance to lower income individuals has little benefit for the middle class, who are rarely eligible for assistance through state funded social welfare programs.

Gregg and Tawnya Johnson are an example of a middle-class family who will see little change to their lifestyle and security. Gregg worked for a developer and was making a comfortable living during the housing boom of the early 2000s. Following the collapse of the housing market, the Johnsons have seen their income drastically reduced. Tawnya works for the King County Court system in order to provide health insurance for her husband and daughters. The Johnsons expressed concern that they may face extra taxation on their rental property income once the housing market improves and their income increases again.

Despite the fact that they have struggled to make due with a reduced income, as many middle-class families have been forced to, the new health care reform will not offer them any assistance with the high cost of health care.

Gregg believes that reform will not help Americans. He thinks that as a society we possess a sense of entitlement and we expect the government to provide basic necessities that should be earned through hard work. Each day he gets up and works in the construction industry to adequately provide for his family.

"Overall, I don't think the health care bill will benefit anyone," Gregg said. “It won't benefit the poor, because as with every social program they have to give up the most important thing they have, their dignity. The minute you accept a handout, you have lost your dignity."

The Johnsons insist that their children grow up with a strong work ethic and that they learn to work hard to earn the things that they want in life. The health care reform mandates that children be allowed to stay on family insurance plans until age 26. Tawnya believes that such a mandate will discourage them from working hard to achieve goals and earn their own way in life.

"On my health insurance now, it covers my kids until the age of 23," Tawnya said. "I think that is sufficient. I bought my first house at 23. Kids should be done with college and have a career by then. Most health insurance programs allow for children who are still going to school to be a dependent. At what point do we expect children to become adults?"

Tawnya is adamant about strong personal accountability, and has tried to instill this value in her children. She thinks that kids today expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter and she does not want her kids to fall prey to that pattern of thinking.

There are two sides to the debate over health care reform. The new law will provide security to millions of Americans, but at a high cost to others. Funding social programs for a select few through taxing high-income Americans robs them of money that they worked hard to earn.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 201 million Americans are already covered by private health insurance companies, and would benefit little from government funded subsidies for purchasing health insurance. It is unfortunate that millions of Americans do not have access to health care, but it is not the responsibility of taxpayers to provide this for them. America was founded under the principle of equality for all, and denying taxpayers access to health insurance subsidies funded by their tax dollars, takes away their democratic right to equal treatment.

Forcing Americans to purchase health care or face a fine violates our right to decide the outcome of our health or medical treatment. In a country with a depressed economy and a skyrocketing national debt, we should be concentrating on long-term solutions to the problems of poverty.

Although Williams is happy that she will have access to health care, she insists that our government spending money to provide insurance only masks the symptoms of a larger problem. It neglects to provide impoverished Americans with the tools they need to be financially successful and provide security for themselves.

"I feel that if we focused more on educating our youth to be outstanding citizens, we would not have to worry about paying for people who want to be lazy and sponge off the system," Williams said. "To truly educate our youth, universal education would be a good start. If everyone had an equal chance to get a quality education from kindergarten through college years, then imagine what our nation could achieve."