In this article, I will research the performance of our government in the areas of Health Care and Homeland security.
If you are lucky, enough to visit the Health Care page on the White house web site you will see a distinct header that reads, "The President Has A Clear Agenda To Make Health Care More Affordable" , this agenda includes:
• Allowing Small Businesses to Form Association Health Plans (AHPs).
• Passing Medical Liability Reforms.
• Expanding Health IT.
• Expanding Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
It is without a doubt an honorable goal to make health care affordable to our citizens. I am not even talking about a national health system or any of these crazy socialist ideas, just affordable health care!
As a believer in the sincerity of our president and his web site, I researched the magical World Wide Web.
It was surprising to find out in the Census Bureau (government) report released on 8/29/06; it estimates that 46.6 million people lacked health insurance in 2005, up from 45.3 million in 2004.
The level of uninsured Americans stands now at 15.9% of the population, the highest since 1998.
The same Statistics indicate that the percentage of children without coverage grew, from 10.8% to 11.2%, which is the first increase since 1998.
At the same period, health insurance premiums rose at double-digit annual rates, and three times the rate of inflation http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
So, while our president and representatives have a clear vision to make health care affordable, it is going in the wrong direction. As the naive person I am I decided to dig deeper, may be they did every thing but it is like the forecast where wind can change at anytime, and we do not fire the weatherman!
Allowing Small Businesses to Form Association Health Plans (AHPs). It sounds like a genuine idea except that the whole government signed a contract with big pharmacy to strip itself from any negotiating power as a part of the Prescription Drug Benefit program. It might be good only for small businesses, not big governments!
However, another statistics shows that small businesses have found it increasingly difficult to purchase healthcare insurance. In fact, in a study conducted last year by the National Association for the Self-Employed, two-thirds of small business owners said they are unable to provide health insurance for themselves and their employees because of the high cost. So, I guess forming association is a good idea but only if you can afford it! http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1365/is_1_34/ai_106028354
I am an Egyptian American born in Alexandria. I immigrated to the US in the late eighties, during this time lived in many places in US and Europe. I work as an IT manager and love it. I love to travel, it makes me feel young, and it awakes in me sense of adventure and curiosity. I love knowing people from different cultures; it never fails to amaze me how we all live in our little worlds that never meet. History is my second amazement, it always differ depending on who is winning, that leads me to my third hobby, politics is it history or human nature that is the culprit?
