Unfortunately, many people live a sheltered life when it comes to health care, unknowing to what the government is doing. On November 12th, there was an Affordable Health Care forum going on as part of Health Professions week. The room was filled completely, with some stragglers standing off to the side just to hear what was going to be addressed. The people in attendance were elderly, young college students, professors, and other in between. This was something of great importance, to know what is occurring with ones healthcare under the government. For the two weeks before this forum, I was learning about the Affordable Health Care Act, or Obama Care, in my Intro to Health Sciences course, so many topics that had been addressed had just been discussed in class. No matter what way the information is presented, it is still shocking how much health care costs. I used to take for granted the health care my mother was provided and in turn provided for the rest of my family, and I never blinked an eye. I thought everyone had the same plan as me, and I could never understand why people complained to the pharmacist about the cost of their medicine. Now as a college student in the health sciences field, I know more about health care and the costs behind it. Each year, health care costs will increase for the individual and family plan, and there is no end in sight to the raise in cost. Currently there are over 48 million Americans who lack health care; this includes adults, children, and the elderly. Medicare, enacted in 1963, helps cover the elderly and their health insurance, but most of the time it does not cover the cost fully, and the elderly must pay what is known as a “medi-gap” and pay the difference. Medicaid, also enacted in 1963, is meant to cover the insurance of the lower economic sphere, but unfortunately many doctors offices do not accept Medicaid, and Medicaid will only cover so much of a patients visit. Medicaid is federally funded, but mandated by the state.
Health care is still expensive for many people, and Obama Care is aiming to help the uninsured get insurance so as to be able to take care of themselves and their family. Obama Care is costing 728 billion dollars to fund so as to help make a difference. As of November 12th, approximately only 100,000 people have signed up for Obama Care on the health care website, www.healthcare.gov.
Attending the health care forum helped better my knowledge of Obama Care and fully grasp the concepts that go along with it. It also helped me look at a financial perspective of how much this will cost when I eventually leave my mothers’ plan and obtain health care as an individual.