Health Care Reform: The Future of America's Liberty or Its Destruction?, Part Two

Grace Notes Monthly-column
President Obama’s Plan for Health Care Reform


President Obama has already failed to comprehend the cost of his most recent programs such as, the “Cash for Clunkers Rebate Program, which was slated to run from July 27, through November 1, 2009 but ran out of money four days after it started, and had to be re-funded with an extra $2 billion” (The (WI) Milwaukee Journal, 7/31, 2009). Then there is the $35.9 billion spent so far to take over failing banks and the $94.5 billion spent to bailout the auto industry since late 2008. One can begin to understand the confusion and concern of the American people, who are wondering where the money for health care reform is going to come from and how future generations will ultimately pay for it.


To be fair, the president has opted several times to go directly to the American people via interviews to explain his reasons for spending so much money. However, his arguments and continued espousing of facts have fallen on deaf ears, only increasing the frustrations of the American public. The spending continues with no apparent end in sight.


In his televised speech on September 16, 2009, President Obama offered these answers to the problematic cost for health care reform.


“[There will be] a provision that requires spending cuts, if the savings we promise do not materialize. [Also] by finding savings (i.e. cutting wasteful spending) within the existing health care system, including Medicare and Medicaid. Insurance companies will be charged a fee for the most expensive policies they provide coverage for. Families and individuals who choose not to have health insurance will be fined up to 8 percent ($3800) a piece. While the public insurance option would be…self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. Tax credits and a hardship waiver are offered for those who cannot afford insurance under this plan. The projected cost for the president’s plan on healthcare reform is $900 billion over the next ten years, with an estimated savings from existing health care system changes at $10 million (Text of President Obama’s Speech before Congress, 9/09/09).


Crunching the numbers, the part President Obama left out, was that this would leave a deficit of $6 billion that will still have to be paid in the future. Our current national debt is more than $11 trillion. These programs will swell the national debt even further. No one is disputing the fact that health care reform is needed or that there is wasteful government spending in current programs like Medicaid and Medicare. President Obama, though, has referred to some critics of his plan as having “dug into ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise” when they have voiced their concerns over the rush to act on health care reform instead of taking some time to get it right. President Obama has also said, perhaps partly right, that some “have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points” at the expense of “solving a long-term challenge” (Text of President Obama’s Speech, 9/09/09). These same critics have been blasted by the press and some in Congress for daring to question the wisdom of Washington and the Oval Office in standing for the freedoms protected under the laws of this country. Yet, many of the critics and the American public have awakened to the inconsistencies inherent in the president’s reasoning. The critics, for the most part, agree on these key issues—the alarming trend of repeated failure in the proposed programs and the escalating debt future generations will have to pay back. The instant gratification that rules American society sweeps us along in its inexorable tide and compels some to keep questioning President Obama’s plan for health care reform.


As Americans have awakened to the devastating effects of our future national debt, the public, as well as some in Congress, have called for President Obama to slam on the brakes. Morally and spiritually, they are calling for more time, not out of a desire to thwart the president’s plan, but out of a sincere need to reexamine the socialistic impact of President Obama’s track record and what he is proposing for our nation’s health care reform.