House Health Care Bill Released, And Mayhem Will be Unleashed

A day after President Obama met with key Democratic players of Health Care reform, the House unveiled it's $1 Trillion Health Care bill that essentially taxes those in the upper tax brackets to provide "Affordable Health Care for the Middle Class".

In an effort to expedite Health Care legislation, President Obama has also urged various members of the Senate to mark up legislation by week's end.

As I stated in my first post of this blog, I am cautious in the direction in which the Health Care Reform is heading. The House Health Care reform would impose penalties on employers who fail to provide health insurance for their workers and on individuals who refuse to buy it, with costs as much as 2.5% higher than the average health care insurance plan. I don't know if this approach is reasonable, and with a $1 Trillion price tag Blue Dog democrats need to have their voices heard on Capitol Hill. As expected, cuts in Medicare and Medicaid have helped make way for funding the bill, which could accumulate up to $500 million worth.

However, there are certainly many positives of the bill:

• The bill would require insurance companies to offer coverage, without exceptions or higher premiums in cases of pre-existing medical conditions.
  * This provision benefits American patients nationwide, without a doubt.
  
  
• It also would allow the government to sell insurance in competition with private firms, a provision that has sparked objections from Republicans and even some Democrats.
  * I believe that competition, in a business sense, always results in an advantage to
  the consumer (i.e. Technologically speaking, Google's Chrome OS will instantanelsly
  challenge Microsoft's monopoly over the PC world). Prices decrease, and quality
  must always be at least up to par with the next best service available.
  
  
• According to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released Tuesday afternoon, the legislation would reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 37 million over 10 years, with an estimated $6,000 per person federal subsidy for those who choose the public insurance option.

catch the video below: