HealthCare Policies Clinton and Obama



HealthCare Policies Clinton and Obama

Introduction

The topic under study revolves around health care policies over a span of two different administrators namely Clinton and Obama. The discussion includes historical perspective of the time when each policy was discussed or implemented, analyzes the social, economic, and political environments for the times the policies were discussed or implemented and a Critique on each policy for its effectiveness of the times.

Discussion

Historical perspective of Health care policy in Clinton's Era

Health care faced few concerns at the start of Clinton's era. At that the cost of health care was rising and this became a trend for almost a decade. Moreover, along with the cost of healthcare, the number of un-insured people was increasing. Lacks of insurance caused people face difficulties and economic issues. Although, at that time, United States was the leader in terms of health care spending but, the standards were not better than others (Donna, 1994).

However, Clinton's era has some significant developments. Clinton took the issues faced by health care by full force. The implementation of Health Security Act (HAS) been one of the new administration's first in initiatives. The health security act turned out to be a positive move and, provided a detailed proposal for national health plan (Donna, 1994). Although, the act was impressive but, unfortunately, failed in the legislative process and not only resulted in the defeat of the plan but, also loss in democratic control of congress. Hence, the plan which was initiated impressively, failed to be implemented. This defeat gave rise to debate on healthcare future.

Historical perspective of Health care policy in Obama's Era

Due to the weaknesses in healthcare policy, President Obama, during his senate campaign, urged to implement certain changes in the health care policy. He started from the grass root level problems. His idea was to reduce health care cost to make it affordable for everyone, at the same time he intended to increase insurance. Health information technology, personalized medicine and transparency and public health programs were among the other measures that Obama implemented in the policy. The proposal presented by Obama generated attention of the health research institute who examined the proposal critically for its implementation. The amendments that Obama presented during the proceedings of the house and senate includes the following strong points. These amendments were successfully implemented and strengthened the healthcare policy (Reid, 2009).

Insurance for All

Barack Obama agreed with the idea of insurance "mandatory" for all. The plan included a "public option" and the requirement for all employers to insure their employees, except for companies with fewer than 25 people.

Not to Worsen the Deficit

The U.S. president was committed to ensure that the reform does not increase the deficit in the next ten years. He hoped to find two thirds of funding from savings in existing programs, Medicaid (public insurance for the poor) and Medicare (for seniors). Barack Obama signed an initial agreement with hospital networks to save $ 155 billion over ten ...