Barack Obama's Health Care Plan Won't Work

Health care and insurance issues have been at the forefront of the race for the White House in 2008. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain have all proposed different plans to fix our current system. In this series we will discuss the pros and cons of each vision. Read why Barack Obama's Health Plan Will Work.

Is the Plan Really Universal?

This type of coverage is a hot topic and it seems every serious candidate needs to have some sort of proposal to bring to the American people this cycle. Barack Obama created a universal plan, but it does not really seem that all that universal. He will allow people to have either private or national insurance, so the entire country will not be united under one option. What happens if private carriers start offering better rates than that of national insurance? It benefits the consumer, but the universal national policy falls by the wayside. John Edwards has called his idea "simply inadequate", while Hillary Clinton says of his proposal, "We have to achieve true universal health care."

Funding

How does Obama plan to fund his vision? He plans to tax the wealthiest of Americans at a higher rate, and he also plans to use the emergency funds each state currently has set aside to go towards the cost of emergency uninsured medical coverage. Without these funds, uninsured people will be forced to acquire coverage, something they may be unwilling to do or afford. Are we also going to totally rely on the wealthiest of American's to fund our new Government program? This often means taxes on big businesses. If our economy continues to go south and cash flows decrease from these businesses, are we going to have enough money to contribute to this bloated program?

Government Intervention

According to Obama's proposal, the Government will be a watch dog to the industry for both national and private options. This can be a good thing and keep everyone in check, but it could also be a deterrent. Who knows what the government will strike down if they feel does not meet the "needs" of the program. Can we trust the Government? No, I'm not talking about wack job conspiracies or anything. We have all seen what the Government has done to the Social Security program over the past few decades; it is possible the same thing could happen to the program: We could run out of money to support it quicker then we think. The bottom line is we need a comprehensive universal program, and as much as Obama wants to claim the opposite, this option is not comprehensive or universal. Obama's Health-Care Plan Draws Jabs From Contenders