Government s Role in Health Care 1 What roles does the government play in the health care issue The government has some role in providing health care Medicare and Medicaid help a combined 80 million Americans 39 2 million Americans are covered as government employees Government can tax people who do not buy insurance from private companies even though it cannot enforce that people buy private healthcare 2 How do our health care costs compare to other developed nations America spends more on health care than any other developed nations 1996 we spent 252 billion on health care 3 What percentage of the total health care bill in the U S is funded by the government 47 of the total health care tab in the U S is funded by the government 4 How significant are health care costs in terms of the Federal budget Medicare is a huge contributor to the deficit Medicare is the third largest government program and its spending as a percentage has doubled in the past 20 years 5 Describe the problem of uninsured citizens 1 3 of Americans are uninsured Uninsured citizens tend to skip regular doctor check ups and do not get vaccines Consequently they are more susceptible to getting sick needing medical attention They put off help until they need to be treated at a hospital The burden then falls on the insured population doctors hospitals and the government to pay for uncompensated care 6 What are the ramifications of health care for the uninsured The cost of uncompensated care is put on the government therefore the taxpayers doctors and hospitals More people end up paying more expensive bills Health care premiums go up when billions are spent on uncompensated care 7 Describe briefly the problem of Medicare 48 million elderly currently on medicare By 2030 76 million will be on medicare Meidcare needs additional funding because less workers are paying taxes to fund the 3rd largest government program New funding could come from new taxes on products like tobacco or greater contributions from wealthier senior citizens 8 Define Obamacare Obamacare is President Obama s reformed health care plan The term obamacare references patient protection act and affordable care plan from 2010 Obamacare makes health care affordable for more people 9 What are the key advantages of Obamacare Makes services available to 32 million people who do not currently have health insurance Federal gov will give state governments funds to pay for those who cannot afford their own health care and put them on Medicaid Parents can keep children their health insurance plans up to age 26 Obamacare does not apply to businesses with less than 50 employees Larger businesses are required to offer health insurance but receive tax credits to help employees pay premiums People with existing health insurance will keep it Businesses prefer to offer a tax free benefit like health insurance to attract good workers That won t change under Obamacare The Act will lower the budget deficit by 143 billion over the next 10 years by raising some taxes and shifting more cost burdens 10 What are the key disadvantages of Obamacare People who do not have health insurance currently will now start receiving preventive care raising the cost of health care for the state federal government One million individuals will experience a raise in taxes Pharmaceutical companies will pay 84 billion more People who do not purchase Obamacare or qualify for Medicaid will be taxed rising in cost each year they do not purchase healthcare Obamacare cannot force people to buy private insurance Court found that federal government can tax people w o health insurance or Medicaid Obamacare cannot mandate that states add people to Medicaid but many states will since they will get the money from the federal government 11 Is Obamacare constitutional On what basis
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