The second phase begins in 2011 and will require private health insurance companies to spend at least 80% of premiums on healthcare services; in 2013, Medicare payroll taxes will increase on the wealthiest individuals and families to enable that program to overcome the Baby Boomer problem (Tumulty, Pickert, & Park, 2010). In 2014, most Americans will be required to obtain health insurance to reduce the collective cost of treating the uninsured (Tumulty, Pickert, & Park, 2010).
Unfortunately the primary reason that healthcare reform was not able to incorporate more wide-sweeping reforms (such as considering a single-payor scheme that works so well in other countries or a fee-for-results physician compensation model) is that political opposition made that impossible. Generally, the fundamental basis of political opposition was entirely specious and took advantage of the ignorance of many American voters....
In that regard, political representatives, most of whom had obvious conflicts of interest either by virtue of their ties to for-profit health insurers or simply because they opposed any achievement of the Obama administration lied outright to their constituents by promoting nonsensical fears about so-called "death panels" and "government takeovers" of private medical decisions. As a result, the healthcare reforms that were achieved are much less than the comprehensive health care reforms that are necessary but they were the best measures capable of being achieved in the current political climate in the U.S.
Bibliography
Kennedy E. (2006). America: Back on Track. Viking: New York.
Reid T. (2009). The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. New York: Penguin Group.
Tumulty K, Pickert K. And Park a. "America, the Doctor Will…
