America’s Health Insurance Plans: Will Obama really bring in change?

Health care and insurance plans must be a primary concern for every government across the planet as ensuring the welfare of citizens and providing them with a proper and affordable health care system is one of their fundamental duties.

Image by ari

America’s Health Insurance Program (AHIP) has tried its best over the years to bring every individual under its umbrella, yet many people still seemed to be opting out of it for reasons such as age, employment status and earnings. With Barrack Obama making bold statements and pitching in progressive ideas before the elections, how will the promises hold up with ‘change’ having arrived in the capital?

In the latest report submitted to AHIP, PricewaterhouseCoopers finds that 87 cents out of every premium dollar go directly towards paying for medical services. Most of this could be cut down if health insurance plans were adopted by every American citizen. The Obama campaign estimated that his health care reform plan will cost between $50 and $65 billion a year when fully phased in and it will be paid from the discontinuing of the Bush tax cuts, which will earn the federal treasury a whooping $250,000 per year.

One of the major steps in cutting the family insurance costs would be the implementation of catastrophic reinsurance coverage, something that Obama has been campaigning forever now. By adding this clause, it would be the federal government that absorbs a large portion of the highest cost claims thereby taking these costs out of the price of health insurance. According to early projections, this would take down health insurance costs for an average family by good $2500 each year. Despite the government moving in this direction, universal health care and insurance coverage seem still a very long way away.

And according to the AHIP, it is the creation of a financially sound and sustainable health care system that can withstand and see through the current economic meltdown that will be the key to success.

The targets for saving the expenditure on health care are being projected at a bold $500 billion over the next five years, but that would only be possible if close to complete health insurance coverage is possible. Quality health system, affordable medical facilities and awareness will be the key aspects that the new Obama cabinet needs to concentrate on if they wish to bring down health care costs and ensure that every American is insured. Like in the case of so many others, we will have to wait and watch if Change is really here!