Health Care in America, the Incurable Debate Essay

Health Care in America, the Incurable Debate - Essay Example (Klein, 2012). Republicans question the figures but can pretty much live with the rest or watered-down versions of it. The individual mandate is at the heart of the debate. It is this part that sent the law to the High Court and, depending on which side characterizes it, is an egregious infringement on liberty or a fair and necessary part of the legislation. The individual mandate, which legally obliges all who can afford it to buy health care insurance based on a sliding income scale, was conceived during the 1990’s version of the health care debate. First Lady Hillary Clinton was tasked with the immense issue of health care reform in an attempt to design a bill that would cover more people while curbing costs. During this contentious, highly partisan debate the Republicans demanded that individual responsibility was written into the law and favored the individual mandate. Democrats hesitated at first but relented in an effort to pass something, even a much smaller version th an they initially envisioned. Fast forward 15 years. Tea Party Republicans have made the mandate a centerpiece of their argument against reforming the overly costly system. They claim the ACA is a â€Å"government takeover of health care.† (Goozner, 2010). Republicans also claim the mandate is unconstitutional. They contend states have the authority but not the federal government. That’s why people can be forced to carry auto insurance. It’s a state requirement. Democrats might say they didn’t take that position when they conceived it themselves just a few years ago and point to the Interstate Commerce Clause as legal justification for the mandate. Americans’ opinion of the mandate has changed along party lines, of course,... Health care reform is literally a life and death issue both for people and the economy. The present system, prior to the full implementation of the ACA, is costing citizens their health and contributing to the National Debt. Something must be done. If not the ACA then what? If the country is waiting on Republicans to fix the system they have a long wait. Health care is not their priority as evidenced by the previous administrations complete failure to address the topic at all. It is difficult for Washington to tackle a complex issue such as health care and seldom politically advantageous. The Democrats tried but failed during the 1990’s and have tried again, each time struggling to pass a bill against a concerted and organized campaign to defeat it, a campaign of obvious lies and propaganda, the â€Å"death panels’ to kill your grandmother misinformation for example. Because of this scare tactic health care reform, so essential to people and the nation, may again go do wn in defeat and must wait for another Democratic administration to try yet another time.