Obama Health Care Plan: Cost, Coverage, and Public Debate

Introduction and Research Topic

The Obama Administration's health care plan is one that some people praise and others seem to fear. With that in mind, it is very important to know what is really in the plan — especially when it comes to the "public option" that so many people seem to be concerned about. Understanding the competing claims about cost, coverage, and government control is essential for making an informed judgment about the value of this proposal for the country.

Annotated Bibliography

A Liberal Supermajority (2008). The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122420205889842989.html. Micro-simulation is based on utility-maximizing models of how individuals choose insurance plans. It allows for variation among many different variables, including both price and income. This kind of modeling is very important because it combines an individual's characteristics and behavior in order to best determine how a person, or a subgroup within a population, would react to a policy change at any given level. However, micro-simulations can be subject to selection bias, which can make them unreliable. (A Liberal Supermajority, 2008).

Burman, L. et al. (2008). An updated analysis of the 2008 presidential candidates' tax plans: Revised August 15, 2008. Tax Policy Center. Retrieved from: While it might not seem evident how a tax plan could be related to a health care plan, what Obama said during his campaign regarding taxes — and what he had done and was working toward — can give insight into what he might do with health care. In other words, whether he keeps his promises is something that can be extrapolated from tax plans and other information. (Burman et al., 2008).

D'Angelo, G., & Winfree, P.L. (2008). The Obama health care plan: A closer look at cost and coverage. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved from: According to D'Angelo and Winfree, the Obama health care plan would cost much more than expected while saving the average family very little. Because of that, many analysts find the Obama plan to be a poor one, based on "if only" assumptions that may or may not come true. If things go well, the plan could be a good one; if they do not, there could be serious financial and medical consequences. It is important to note that this research came from authorities with differing opinions. (D'Angelo & Winfree, 2008).

Feldman, R., Tomai, L., & Duran, S. (2008). Impact of Barack Obama 2008 Health Reform Proposal. HSI Network. Retrieved from: The reform that Obama proposed for health care is very significant. There are those who feel it is just what the country needs, and those who feel it will end in disaster, but there are few clear-cut, provable, factual conclusions regarding it. Most of the debate appears to be speculation and opinion, since the details of the plan had not yet been fully released. The idea of health care reform was clearly having a serious impact on the country, polarizing it in ways that few issues had before. (Feldman, Tomai, & Duran, 2008).

Feldman et al. (2005). Health savings accounts: Early estimates of national take-up. Health Affairs, 24(6), 1582–1591. Retrieved from: The health savings account has long been touted as one of the ways for a person to save for medical costs or a catastrophic event such as a serious accident or disease. However, the rising costs of medical care have made most of these savings accounts inadequate, because people cannot possibly save enough to handle serious illnesses and injuries. With universal health insurance coverage, the argument could be made that these accounts would no longer be necessary. (Feldman et al., 2005).

Moffit, R.E., Ph.D., & Owcharenko, N. (2008). The Obama health care plan: More power to Washington. Heritage Foundation Backgrounder No. 2197. Retrieved from: Moffit and Owcharenko discuss the Obama plan in more detail than most, addressing concerns that much of the public has about the plan, its costs, and what kind of coverage it will really provide. If it resembles the Canadian system, where people sometimes wait many months for important procedures, there will be many people who reject it. Additionally, giving Washington more power is not something that sits well with many Americans, making that a significant hurdle for the Obama Administration. (Moffit & Owcharenko, 2008).

Obama for America. (2008). Barack Obama and Joe Biden's plan to lower health care costs and ensure affordable, accessible health coverage for all. Retrieved from: According to Obama and Biden, the health care they are proposing would not only provide coverage to millions of Americans who currently do not have it and cannot afford it, but would make that coverage accessible and affordable to everyone. They would provide subsidies for those who cannot afford coverage on their own — but having health insurance would be mandatory, and those who do not purchase it would be fined. (Obama, 2008).

Pauly, M.V. (2008). Blending better ingredients for health reform. Health Affairs, 27(6), w482–w491. Retrieved from: Health care reform cannot work with only one idea or plan. Several plans were being considered, and whether any of them would pass remained to be seen. The best and most logical way to get a plan passed is to give the American public what it wants: lower-cost health care that is offered to everyone, where everyone can choose what company and plan they want to use, so that they do not feel restricted to just one option or forced into health care choices they would not otherwise make. (Pauly, 2008).

Sack, K. (2008). On health plans, the numbers fly. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/politics/22health.html?hp. What the numbers mean in Obama's health plan is an important question, but it is not the only issue. Several versions of a plan were circulating in the House and Senate — all variations of the same proposal, yet very different in their specifics. The public option, the cost of the plan, and many other issues were at stake, and many people did not have enough information to know whether the plan was good or bad for them overall. (Sack, 2008).

Article Synthesis

The Lewin Group. (2007). Summary description of the Health Benefits Simulation Model (HBSM). Retrieved from: http://www.lewin.com/content/Files/HBSMSummary.pdf. Understanding why people choose the insurance options they do is very important when evaluating the Obama Administration's health care plan. The plan must not only be well designed but also be perceived as valuable by the public as a whole. Simulating which people would accept what kind of plan can help those designing it tailor something that works and is accepted by the largest number of people. Without that kind of modeling, a plan could fail even if it has many strong points. (The Lewin Group, 2007).

According to the article by D'Angelo and Winfree (2008), there are serious concerns surrounding the Obama Administration's health care plan. It is no secret that the plan is very ambitious, and many people feel that it is too ambitious — that it will be difficult to pay for and will not work as well as it should. But is that accurate? Largely, that depends on who is asked. The article addresses the opinions of more than one expert in the field in order to help determine whether the Obama health care plan is really everything that the Administration claims it to be. (D'Angelo & Winfree, 2008).

The key point with regard to these differing opinions is that the debate is not just about money. There are also concerns about whether a person would still receive the same kind and quality of coverage that they currently have if the Obama health care plan passes and is signed into law. The number of uninsured people in America would be reduced, but by how much is a matter of opinion among various experts conducting studies for specific institutions and organizations. (D'Angelo & Winfree, 2008).

How much the plan would cost and how it would be paid for also remains uncertain. There are estimates, but that is all they can possibly be at this point. It is not possible to produce clear, distinct, provable numbers, because the specifics of the plan have not been fully spelled out for the American public. While people who work with these kinds of issues can present their best guesses, they cannot provide proof that the Obama Administration's health care plan is good or bad, or exactly how much it will cost. (D'Angelo & Winfree, 2008).

The "if only" propositions embedded in much of the plan tend to make statisticians and fact-checkers nervous, simply because of their nature — they rely on the best-case scenario. What would happen if the best-case scenario does not materialize is something that cannot easily be answered, and that is what concerns people the most. Everything works smoothly if conditions are ideal, but a simple problem could end up costing millions of dollars or leaving many people without insurance. (D'Angelo & Winfree, 2008).

There is also the concern regarding government control. Many people were already voicing concerns about the government attempting to interfere too much in their lives. If mandatory health insurance requirements are put into place, those concerns are likely to intensify. That is something else the experts cannot yet answer — it remains to be seen as the potential of this plan comes to light and as the Obama Administration moves forward. (D'Angelo & Winfree, 2008).