Policy played out in front of the people is never pretty. Anyone following the health care debate can attest to that. The Republicans have turned into nonsensical attack dogs, barking at any shadow of Democratic weakness. The large Democratic majority put the bill together, but wavered in the face of public anger and apparent disapproval.
Finally, Sunday night’s vote in the House of Representatives approving President Barack Obama’s health care reform bill put an end to the madness. Democrats manned up, put their political necks on the line, swallowed their idea of a public option and voted for the heavily compromised bill. The bill, which got no Republican support whatsoever, is still an accomplishment, especially for college students across the country.
The plan will cost $938 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This cost will be shouldered by cuts to Medicare and a tax on investment returns made by the wealthiest Americans. So, unless you are older than 65 or incredibly rich, you won’t feel the cost of the reform.
The bill will allow children to stay on their parents’ health plans until they’re 26. Most states previously mandated that at the age of 19 or before graduating from college, one must get their own plan. This new stipulation gives students almost five years after graduation to figure out what to do about finding health insurance. So if you’re trying to chill in your parents’ basement, maybe working on a novel, maybe not, you’re covered.
If your artistic skills don’t pan out, but your ebullience can’t be contained in a cubicle, small businesses garnered huge benefits in the bill. They will be entitled to a tax credit for 2009 and 2010, which could be as much as 50 percent of what they pay for employees’ health insurance. Hopefully this will increase cash flow in these businesses and open up jobs with them. After graduation it will now be easier to take a risk working for a small business. They should pay more with reduced health care costs.
The bill will cover large amounts of previously uncovered citizens. Ideally, an extra 35 million Americans will now be paying for insurance, which should reduce costs for everyone. The percentage of people that get sick will not rise, but having more people to pay for those that do will reduce costs for everyone in the pool. In the long run, more people means lower premiums.
Also, insurance companies won’t be able to drop you if you get sick or for pre-existing conditions. As college students, we’re in the primary age group when mental illnesses start to show. A life with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or multiple sclerosis is miserable without medication and could lead to a life on the streets. These people deserve coverage, as do our peers, who don’t yet know what struggles they may face.
A major college loan overhaul rode the coattails with the health care bill as well. This supplies $40 billion over 10 years toward higher education, $36 billion of which would aid the popular Pell Grant program. Maximum Pell grants, which provide $5,000 to the neediest students, will increase to $5,550 in 2010 and $5,975 in 2017. This may seem like a small amount compared to the daunting tuition we pay here at Boston University, but at least the government is increasing the program against inflation.
The loan overhaul also caps the percentage of monthly income that students pay toward their college loans. The current cap is 15 percent, but beginning in 2014 it will decrease to 10 percent. Fifteen to 10 percent might seem like a small decrease, but it will go a long way toward helping struggling graduates pay for their independent lives while also paying for their education.
What has happened recently with the divisiveness over health care can largely be attributed to misinformation. Take a step back and look at the provisions of the bill. Understand that our health care system is a mess. This was a problem that has been festering for almost a century when Teddy Roosevelt first aimed his “big stick” at it. The bill is a milestone in legislative success. It’s a grand compromise that represents the reality of our two-party system. The bill is largely what the Republicans recommended to Hillary Clinton when she was drafting her own health care bill in 1992. It’s a response to pleas of help. So, please, stomach your middle or upper-class resentment to helping the poor this bill should help us all.
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