Obama's Health Care Bill Needs Ironing
 Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  by Connie T.

President Barack Obama has proposed new mandates in health care. While the majority of Americans have shown in polls to be in support of reforming the health care system, there are a few points in the proposed bill that need some attention.

First of all, the Federal Healthcare Rationing Board will make decisions on the health care of you and your family, not on your doctor's or your opinion on how your medical needs should be treated. Many people already know the sting of medical claims being denied by their insurance companies, or being turned away from coverage due to a pre-existing condition; these were things Obama criticized during his run for presidency, advocating fair coverage for all.

Secondly, the price tag is controversial. Congressional budget analysts have already said that the plan will drive the nation deeper into debt without more spending control on the bill.

And finally, the plan could result in a loss of privacy for the individual. It seeks to make all health records digital, but electronic health record systems like Google Health are not yet subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the national health privacy law. Obama and the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, as well as the U.S. Dept. of Justice, have announced a new high-level task force aimed at detecting and preventing health care fraud. But with the new bill, if medical providers don't have the proper precautions in place, it could balloon the health care fraud that already costs Americans billions each year.

"Without aggressive safeguards, we could be building an infrastructure for massive medical fraud," said Pam Dixon, Executive Directory of the World Privacy Forum.

After the July 4th recess, the Senate Finance Committee will be drafting this first major health care legislation bill under the new administration.

Certainly President Obama can be commended for attempting to reform the health care system that party mate Hillary Clinton found was so difficult to do during Bill Clinton's presidency; after all, the US has some of the best (and most expensive) medical care in the world, and yet is one of few countries that won't offer these benefits to all citizens. But passing this bill hastily and without hammering out all the details of consequence to all Americans would not be just.

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