Opposing ideas fend off solutions to health-care crisis

By Emily Reeping

In 2008, people were debating, contemplating, and deciding about who they were going to vote for to become our next president.

Now, a year later, we are trying to solve another issue; health care reform. Even though it is currently one of the hottest political debate topics, many people don't even know what's going on. Why is health care such a big deal when there are those who don't even know what's happening with it?

With the economy spiraling down the drain so quickly, many employers are moving away from the idea of providing their employees with health care benefits, i.e. insurance. Because of this, many people, employed or not, don't have insurance, or if they do it's not good. Health insurance is extremely expensive and also necessary. If you have no health insurance and you go to the hospital, you are not going to receive the care you need and you will also be loaded with bills on your way out.

So if people aren't getting the care they need, and health insurance is so expensive, what is going to be done to alleviate the problem?

As of now, President Barrack Obama has mentioned that he has found "hundreds of billions of dollars" that can be put away for healthcare from the federal budget. With this money, he plans on creating a government-sponsored insurance system that would be available to all Americans, regardless of race or age. His system could be compared to the Medicare system currently available to people over the age of 65.

Of course, it wouldn't be possible to have an idea without having someone be unhappy about it. The Republicans do not like the idea of universal health care. They feel that employers and people who are currently well off in the health insurance area would opt for government care because it would be cheaper. They also feel that the quality of the insurance would also not be up to par. What they would rather see happen is a series of things. For one, they want to give yearly tax breaks that are to be spent on health insurance. They also want people to have health savings accounts and to let children stay on their parents' insurance plans until they are 25. The Republicans feel this would be more effective and less daunting on the federal budget.

Although both sides believe they have the better idea for reforming our health care program, neither is willing to compromise or give up their thoughts on the matter. Because of this friction, we are sitting around waiting for a decision to be made, while more people are moving in and out of the hospitals of America, wishing their country had a better health care system.