Youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMtAFUSr8gE

This video of CNN shows the passing of the bill by 60 votes in the Senate. Along with commentary about the concerns of the healthcare bill and implications that the passing may mean.

Healthcare bill passes the House

Just a few days ago, the House passed President Obamas healthcare bill which includes the public option. The bill now moves to the Senate to be voted on. Still, accorrding to Ramussen Reports, people are still weary about the bill. The most recent poll conducted by Ramussen was via telephone. Of those who were polled, 45% favor the healthcare bill while 52% oppose the bill. 25% of those polled Strongly support the bill, while 42% strongly oppose the bill. Democrats seem to favor the bill more than Republicans. 90% of those who are opposed to the bill are Republicans and 58% are unaffiliated voters.

With the public still being quite divided on the issue, it will be interesting to see what happens in the Senate in regards to the bill.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/september_2009/health_care_reform

Past and current views on healthcare

U.S. citizens are still awaiting a solid decision on whether or not the new healthcare bill will be passed. However, Ramussen reports have conducted an analysis on healthcare opinions over the past few months (since september). It is interesting to view the change in peoples opinions.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/toplines/pt_survey_toplines/november_2009/toplines_health_care_november_7_8_2009

The first question asks whether or not those polled if they strongly favor or strongly oppose President Obamas healthcare plan. The numbers have been pretty uniform over the past few months, in response to this question. There has been some slight fluctuation, but no noticeable or significant changes.

The second question asks those polled if they think that healthcare bill proposed by President Obama and Congress will become a law this year. As of today, it still has not happened. Although once again there is few change amongst those polled over the months, a majority of those polled thought that it was not very likely.

The third question asked is if the healthcare reform bill passes, will the quality of healthcare increase or decrease? Once again, little fluctuation has occurred over the months. However, a majority of those polled said that they thought healthcare would get worse if the Presidents bill is passed.

The fourth and final question asks pollsters if they think that healthcare will increase in costs or decrease in costs if the healthcare bill is passed. Over 52% of those polled agreed that it would increase the overall costs of healthcare.

Healthcare costs

As the week continues, the much possibility of the Congress passing a vote on the healthcare bill this Saturday grows nearer and nearer. Today (thursday) thousands of individuals gathered at the Capital to protest the bill and requesting that the vote be delayed. This protest may have resulted out of the continuous public concern over the media coverage on the bill. Sources everywhere keep debating the unknown costs to the public, all agreeing that the number will be in the high-end billions to the low-end trillions, however the exact amount is unknown because costs can only be estimated. The most recent estimate that was posted by the nonpartison congressional office, accoriding to an article featured on foxnews.com by Judson Berger, claims that the house bill will bring $167 billion over ten years in penalities for those who do not have health insurance. The house claims that with the passing of the bill that healthcare will be affordable so the fines will be uneccessary, but affordable too who?

This is another growing concern for the public in regards to the healthcare bill and an addittional reason why the public is gathering at the capital today to ask that the vote on the bill be delayed.

Realities of Healthcare Reform

Gallup.com just came out with a feature article/poll titled, "Americans on healthcare reform; 5 key realities." Below is a discussion pertaining to these.

1. Public opinion on healthcare is divided yet stable. As recent discussions have stated, there is a split on those for healthcare and those who are against it, yet this split is not a major one. It is pretty close and has been pretty consistent, varying slightly over the past few months.

2. Americans do not have a strong sense of urgency about passing healthcare reform. Just as I talked about the past week in one of my blogs, Americans would rather have it done right then rushed. This was displayed when the media ridiculued Congress for not fully reading the healthcare bill. Americans want no suprises and they want those who are making the decision to be informed on the topic and make good choices.

3. Self-Interest is only part of the story. Despite whether or not an individual has healthcare does not necessarily mean they will vote for or against it. Gallup found that fewer than half of the individuals who had no health insurance would encourage Congress to vote for the healthcare reform bill. And some who have healthcare are not happy with the costs.

4. Specific elements of healthcare have strong appeal; few do not. People do not want to be discriminated against in regards to medical conditions by private insurers; such as obesity, smoking, past problems, etc. Yet people also do not want taxes to rise to pay for the needed changes in healthcare.

5. Obama retains the upper-hand. Obama, who is for the healthcare reform, is more popular with the public than the opponenets of the plan, who are the Republicans. And the Democratic party does have majority control in the Houses.

Updated outlooks on healthcare

With the recent healthcare drama unfolding as the prospects of a bill are claiming to soon be passed, people are still concerned with the end result. In the Gallup poll, 39% of those polled said that their support for healthcare will depend on the details that are laid out in the bill that is to be passed. 33% will oppose it and 25% will support it. In addition, the poll also states that they would prefer to see Congress deal with healthcare reform on a gradual basis over several years, versus trying to pass a comprehensive reform plan this year. Also, an addittional recent poll from Gallup states that most Americans are likely to say that their healthcare costs, coverage, insurance requirements, and quality of care will get worse rather than better if the healthcare bill is passed this year. Only to confirm this notion, Gallup conducted an addittional poll that presented the same opinion. In September of 2009, 42% of those polled said that they thought that the cost of healthcare for them and their family would get worse. Now, when polled in October, that number has risen to 49%. This shows that peoples concern has grown over the past couple of months. It is unknown whether it is due to media speculation, education, rough economic times, etc. However, this shows that healthcare is not an issue that is resting in peoples minds. As stated in the previous poll, "Americans who are undecided on healthcare legislation predict it is more likely to make their own situation worse rather than better--especially in terms of cost." Nevertheless, more closure will occur when a bill is passed or when revised methods are made public to lax public concern or to motivate the public to take a stand against the bill.

http://www.gallup.com/video/123812/Americans-Own-Care-Worsening-Healthcare-Bill.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123782/In-U.S.-39-Say-View-Healthcare-Depends-Details.aspx

Mandatory Healthcare

Of all the new ideas on how to reform healthcare, the one that has been troubling people a lot is mandatory healthcare coverage. This is the notion that if an individual does not have healthcare, then they may have to pay a fine and or a tax. Polling the nations published a poll that was conducted by ABC news asking whether or not those polled would support or oppose a law requiring the all Americans have health insurance, either getting it from work or buying it on their own. Of those polled, 51% supported this bill, 47% opposed the bill and 2% of those polled had no opinion. However, another poll that was posted on the Polling the nations database was conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. This poll asked whether or not those polled had employers who offered health insurance. Of those polled, 34% said yes, 60% said no and 6% did not know.

The second poll may show why the first poll was so close in numbers in regards to those who agreed and those who disagreed with making it mandatory that those without healthcare pay a fine/tax. Those who may have agreed with that argument, may work at a job that provides its employees with healthcare coverage and those that said no, might have said no not just because they did not have jobs, but possibly because they had already established themselves in their job and it still did not offer healthcare.

The notion of wanting everyone to have healthcare is logical. However, some do not want the government to pay for it. Also, some employers do not want to cover all of their employees because of costs so thats why they want those without healthcare to front the costs themselves. Yet is it right for the legislators to mandate something that forces an individual to attain healthcare coverage even if they feel as if they do not want it. And is it right for the individual to have to pay an addittional fine on top of other expenses for not having healthcare? It can arguably be said that if passed, the government will be segregating a portion of the population and treat them unfairly by making them pay an additional fine for something that the they do not want to purchase. Regardless, this is what makes the healthcare topic so controversial. All of its details are hard to equally implement.