Barack Obama

One of the issues to which Barak Obama, the current President of the United States of America, placed great importance during his presidential campaign was health: he insisted that it was essential to reform the system to allow universal attention and eliminate the risks existential posed by diseases more than forty million Americans without health coverage. Also warned the urgent need to control rising health care costs to reduce stress on the budget of the United States. It was a scandal that the richest country in the world offers such a pitiful protection against illness or injury. According to Obama in the past 10 years had been spent over 643 billion dollars in medical care and more than 43 million Americans had no health insurance. He intended to make health reform more important than the past 60 years; the system was collapsed by high costs and bureaucracy. He said that health care reform will reassure all citizens who have felt fear of losing your coverage if you become seriously ill, if he lost his job or changed jobs since this would seriously affect your health plan. Small businesses were forced to cut its staff because health insurance was too expensive to them. During his campaign, Obama stated that the spiraling cost of Medicare and Medicaid made it difficult to control the government deficit; if something was not done soon at least 14,000 people lose their health insurance every single day. What he proposed would provide greater security and stability; also said that no insurer would not be allowed to deny coverage to someone with a preexisting condition.

How it will be financed?

The health care services in the United States of America are divided between the public and private sectors. The country does not have a single, national system. The largest provider of health services is a competitive private sector, level of assurance, input suppliers and health providers. Approximately 70% of the population is covered by a system of private health insurance which is mostly contracted through the employer, including joint contributions of employee and employer. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the lead agency of the government of the United States to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential social services to those who are unable to provide for themselves. HHS is part of the executive branch and the Congress of the United States determines its budget

The cost of the new law will be the largest in the United States history. The Health Care Reform is expected to cost approximately one trillion dollars or more over the next 10-years. According to the Congressional Budget Office (2009), the comprehensive plan can be subsidies to the 65% of uninsured people under the poverty level (Congressional Budget Office, 2009). The financial support will be provided by expanding public programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In addition, the Health Care Reform includes direct financial assistance from the mandatory purchase of private, public insurance, and tax credits to compensate the cost of coverage. Reducing wasteful spending and fraud of public health programs (Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP). Introduction of an electronic registry of patients improve coordination, avoiding errors and duplication of services. Decreased payments currently canceled status to hospitals for treating uninsured patients in emergency rooms, eliminating these payments if all patients are uninsured.

But these measures will fail to cover the entire reform and fund the difference is one of the controversial issues. An alternative that has been proposed is a tax increase for families with incomes over $ 350,000 a year. This measure is unlikely to be approved by the Senate for his unpopularity. The Senate Finance Committee proposes charging a tax on health benefits granted by companies to employees. So far these are not considered as income, so they are exempt from paying taxes. This proposal seems to be unpopular with unions and some Democrats, so it is unlikely to be approved. The draft budget also proposes to end tax cuts for those who can benefit citizens with higher incomes that make charitable donations, but it was criticized by both Republicans and Democrats and the proposal was withdrawn when the budget passed by Congress.

Medicare

Through a Medicare program, the federal government provides health insurance to all Americans over age 65, those who have permanent kidney failure and certain people with disabilities, covering more than 40 million Americans. Generally funded by a combination of payroll taxes, general revenues and premiums paid by beneficiaries.

Medicare has four parts: Part A, which provides hospital insurance; Part B, which provides supplemental medical insurance, Part C, which allows Parties A and B are loaned by private health plans and Part D regards drug coverage.

Part A largely paid for by general taxes helps pay for inpatient care, critical access hospitals small facilities that give limited outpatient and inpatient services to people in rural areas), skilled nursing facilities, care hospice and some home health care.

Part B , which currently has a premium of about $ 50/month adjusted annually helps pay for doctors, outpatient ancillary services and some other medical services that Part A does not cover , such as services physical and occupational therapists and home care , when medically necessary .

Part C, known as Medicare + Choice, gives recipients the opportunity to enroll in private health plans. The idea behind this was to provide an additional choice to the elderly and to promote competition among health

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