December 2, 2009

Getting the Facts Straight on Health Care Reform

Jonathan Gruber, Ph.D., wrote this article regarding the 2009 health care reform during the Obama Administration. The United States stands on the verge of the most significant change to our health care system since the 1965 introduction of Medicare. The bill that was passed by the House and a parallel bill before the Senate would cover most uninsured Americans, saving thousands of lives each year and putting an end to our status as the only developed country that places so many of its citizens at risk for medical bankruptcy. Moreover, the bills would accomplish this aim while reducing the federal deficit over the next decade and beyond. They would reform insurance markets, lower administrative costs, increase people's insurance choices, and provide "insurance for the insured" by disallowing medical underwriting and the exclusion of preexisting conditions. And the Senate bill in particular would move the nation closer to taming the uncontrolled increase in health care spending that threatens to bankrupt our society.