Obamacare: The Cold Hard Truth

IV. Intro: Will Obamacare Succeed?

A famous Greek physician named Herophilos once said, “When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless, and intelligence cannot be applied.” One of the most crucial issues challenging Americans today is the overwhelming rise in health problems. Serious health problems like obesity can create other ailments such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than one-third (35.7%) of adults in the U.S. are obese and in 2008 their estimated combined medical bills totaled to $147 billion dollars; of that 35.7% of Americans, approximately 15.4% do not have health insurance. One of the biggest influences on the number of uninsured Americans is the outrageously high cost of health care. Compared to the rest of the developed world, the U.S. has dramatically higher healthcare costs as a percentage of GDP or on a per capita basis. The Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD) reports that healthcare costs in other countries average $3,200 per person and nearly $8,200 per person in America.

In response to this continuous issue, on Mar. 23, 2010 the senate approved President Barrack Obama’s bill entitled, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The purpose of this bill was to reduce medical costs while simultaneously providing every American access to health insurance. In order for the Obama administration to effectively improve health care is to consider all other governmental polices that will be directly and indirectly affected, whether it is positively or negatively. As with any new law, there are those who ...

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...y of the opposition is coming from the Sothern states.

The second problem entails an interesting legal dilemma with this case is the challenges it received in the courtroom. Because this was such a controversial topic when initially proposed, there were various legal questions that had to be answered. The main question that needed to be answered was the new law constitutional. Mike Patton explains, “the Supreme Court ruled that as long as the non-compliance penalty is considered a tax, Obamacare does not run afoul of the Constitution. This is because Article One, Section Eight of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to collect taxes for the “general welfare of the nation.” Hence, Obamacare has become the law of the land. Coincidentally, this is the same position the Supreme Court took in 1937 when it ruled on the constitutionality of Social Security.”