Health-care bill: Make or Break?

The current health care bill that has come under severe scrutiny from the public and interested parties in the US is on tenterhooks: will it make it through to it passage to glorious history or will it be consigned to the dustbins of US Legislature? We will know on Christmas Eve as the Senate meets to vote on it.

The heath-care bill which was drafted on almost 700 sheets of paper has less than seven days for review and scrutiny by the august members of the Senate before they meet on Thursday to aye or nay the bill.

The import and ramifications of the health-care bill on employers and consumers may be beyond the ken and understanding of the majority of the senators, and they will surely need a lot of feedback from the electorate to help them come to an informed and wise decision for the American health system and economy. Either way, there will be parties that will stand to benefit or lose from the passage of this health-care bill. Will America favor the big time capitalists or will it show compassion for the man in the street who have suffered years of health-care neglect under the Bush administration?

There are legitimate concerns that the bill will add a bludgeoning half a trillion dollars to the federal budget over the next ten years, funded and borne by the middle class. It subsidizes insurance for American families to the tune of 400 percent above the poverty level. This translates to almost $90,000 a year for a family of four.

From the logistics point of view, an additional 15 million Americans stand to benefit from this health-care bill as they will be shoved into Medicaid, the medical welfare system.

Proponents of this bill say that it is high time that America take care of its own people instead of funding expensive wars that do nothing but bring back body bags to grieving families. The money that is used to fund armed conflicts around the world should be better used to take care of medical needs back home.

The conflict and angst in America is whether the money should be better used to prop up and stimulate the economy or to be channeled to the sick that cannot afford expensive health-care.

Latest Update:

The Health Care Bill is Passed by the Senate!