Health Care Reform Bill Vote Today: What Will Be the Outcome?

For weeks now we have all heard about the upcoming vote about the state of our health care. Today is the day for the big health care reform bill to be voted on. Even though we have heard numerous talks about this bill many of us still have no clear answers. We are left to piece together tidbits of information and then make educated guesses. The uncertainty of this bill is causing great apprehension throughout the states.

In the United States there are an estimated 32 million people living without health insurance. If this bill does pass today everyone will be expected to have some form of health insurance. Over a span of the next ten years this bill would cost approximately 940 billion dollars. These are some of the only clear cut facts that we have been privileged to knowing about.

Rumors swirl around other things; everything from government control over what doctors you can see to tax breaks for the poor and higher taxes for the rich. Awhile back there was even a statement from our President about the fact that he does not even know what the bill entails. Without any clear cut answers how are we supposed to feel?

Right now there is so much debate over the health care reform bill. However, for the American people I think it stems mostly from two areas. One, the people are concerned about government intervention. Americans like to feel like they have choices and if this bill is passed everyone will be required to purchase health insurance. If we do not purchase health insurance then we will be fined. Also there is speculation circulating that the IRS is going to be in control of this. What this means is the IRS will know if you have health insurance or not; the health insurance company will send them a form. If you are not in compliance with this new bill then on top of being fined you will not get your taxes back. We live in a country where we want to be in control and not have the government control things.

The second big problem is many Americans feel as if they have no choice in this matter. After this statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; "We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole-vault in. If that doesn't work, we will parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed for the American people" we are left feeling angered. Basically she is shoving this down our throats. Everyone wants to feel like their voice counts and it appears Pelosi is just dismissing that. Perhaps, if we were given options regarding health care many Americans would be more open to a change.

Most of us realize the benefits of insurance. We purchase insurance for our cars, for our homes, and even for our pets. The problem here is not that we do not want insurance. What it comes down to is we want choices. We want our voice to be heard and we want our vote to count. When President Obama came into office he promised the American people that he would create more jobs and he would not raise our taxes. If this bill passes today our taxes will most certainly be raised. Where are these jobs the President promised? The only jobs in the near future that will be created are for those working in the IRS processing claims against the people who do not have health insurance. Right now all we can do is play the waiting game; will this bill pass?

Sources:

CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS