Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Republican critics have a fiercely argued list of reasons to oppose health care reform. One that is resonating is that the nation cannot afford in tough economic times to add a new trillion-dollar health care entitlement.
We understand why Americans may be skittish, but the argument is at best disingenuous and at worst a flat misrepresentation. Over the next two decades, the pending bills would actually reduce deficits by a small amount and reforms in how medical care is delivered and paid for begun now on a small scale could significantly reduce future deficits. Here is a closer look at the benefits and costs of health care reform:
STATUS QUO IS UNSUSTAINABLE More than 46 million Americans have no insurance, and millions more have such poor coverage that a severe illness threatens bankruptcy. Small employers are dropping coverage because of the cost...
BUT A TRILLION DOLLARS? Both the House and Senate bills would cover more than 30 million of the uninsured, and fully pay for it in part by raising taxes (either on wealthy Americans or high-premium health plans and certain manufacturers and insurers) and in part by cutti...
YES, THEY OVER-PROMISED President Obama and his aides have, at times, made it sound as if health care reform was the answer to runaway deficits and soaring premiums. That is true in the long run, but not now.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that the vast majority of Americans, those covered by employer-sponsored insurance, would see little change or a modest decline in their average premiums under the Senate bill....
SHOULD WE GIVE UP ON SAVINGS? The House and Senate bills, and the stimulus legislation, have a lot of ideas that could bring down costs over time.
Electronic medical records could eliminate redundant tests; standardized forms and automated claims processing could save hundreds of billions of dollars; effectiveness research would help doctors avoid costly treatments that dont work; ...
NO SINGLE FIX The debate is not over and sensible proposals are emerging in the Senate to strengthen cost control. Various amendments would increase the penalties for hospitals that infect patients, let Americans import cheaper drugs from abroad and modestly increase the powers of a ...
Aggressive testing of promising ideas should increase the likelihood of ultimate success. And millions of uninsured Americans should not be forced to wait until all the answers are found.
This editorial is a part of a comprehensive examination of the debate over health care reform.
Obama said there were over 30 million.
How can you take Democrats seriously when they're already on day one off in the tens of millions column
