Hi to all my thousands of readers. I want to wish everyone a happy new year! This is my first blog post in 2010, concerning Obama's new Health Reform. In America today, they have a health system different from the system we have in Norway. The American people have to buy health insurances which are supposed to cover their expenses in terms of hospital visits, medical treatments etc. in case of illnesses. The health insurances are too expensive for the poor part of the American population, which means that they cannot afford to get ill. For instance, if they fall and break their leg or suffer from a major infection, they do not have the money to pay for the medical treatment they need. One of Obama's matters close to his heart has been to reform this health system. He wants a system more similar to our Norwegian health system so that the poor population also can afford to get medical treatment when needed.
The new Health reform includes: You can choose to keep your insurance if you like the one you have from before, there will be no more denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, no dropped coverage when you get sick, it eliminates yearly and lifetime caps of coverage, it caps out-of-pocket expenses and it requires coverage for preventive care. For the citizens who do not have a health insurance there will be created a new insurance marketplace called the Exchange which includes new tax credits for individuals and small businesses and low-cost coverage for individual and small businesses. Obama says that the new Health Reform will not add money to deficit, but will be paid for by the savings within the existing health care system. The reform also includes independent medical experts to identify abuse, waste and fraud in the system. In my opinion, the Health Reform seems genuinely positive for the American population. Today, the system is obviously malfunctioning and Obama has done the only right thing to do; to reform the health-care. I truly hope that the protesters realizes this in the future.
I hope so too Karoline! And I like the way you start the new year by greeting all your readers and wishing them a happy new year too! It is a complicated issue which I think you have covered in a clarifying manner.
SvarSlett