There has been quite a bit of talk recently about President Obama’s push to reform healthcare. Yet, despite all of the media coverage his endeavors have been receiving, many people are woefully unaware of what is included within the reform bill. Although some of the reformations are a bit technical and difficult to understand for the average Joe, there are several important components of the proposed bill that are certainly worth noting. Here is an overview of some of the basic aspects of the health reform bill and how it may affect you.

Understanding the Problem

In order to better understand the proposed reformations, it is essential to first understand the problems we are currently facing in terms of healthcare in the United States. For those who are advocating change, the biggest concern is that healthcare is so costly and that there are many people who are woefully under-protected. For many households, paying for healthcare coverage is something they simply cannot afford, which has forced them to simply go without. Even businesses are struggling to provide their employees with healthcare coverage, forcing some to close their doors simply because they cannot afford healthcare coverage. To make matters worse, the costs are only going up.

Despite the fact that the United States spends about $2 trillion every year on healthcare, there are still about 46 million people who do not have coverage. Those individuals who are not covered place a bigger toll on society than many people realize, as a growing number of foreclosures and bankruptcies are being forced due to overwhelming medical expenses that individuals simply cannot afford to pay. This results in a vicious cycle, as these financial disasters only cause the recession to worsen, which leads to more people without medical insurance coverage. In fact, the Center for American Progress Action Fund claims that approximately 14,000 people are losing their healthcare coverage every day as more and more jobs are cut.

Examining Common Ground

Believe it or not, many Democrats and Republicans support making changes to our current healthcare system. Many representatives from both parties agree that doctors and hospitals should be paid based on the quality of the care they provide rather than the quantity. Both parties are also in support of creating an online marketplace where people and businesses can easily perform some comparison shopping for the best healthcare plans. In addition, both support preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to people with “pre-existing conditions.” Believe it or not, many insurance companies are willing to go along with this change if lawmakers will make it a requirement for young, healthy people to purchase insurance as well.

On the other hand, the two parties are vastly divided regarding the creation of an insurance plan that is ran by the government. The Republicans don’t like this move, as it would provide competition against the private plans that are already available. President Obama, on the other hand, says having a government-run insurance plan will help keep private insurers on the up and up.

Considering the Costs

Of course, the cost of a government-run health plan is a major concern among both parties. Many experts estimate that this type of plan would cost about $1 trillion over the next decade. Since most taxpayers aren’t willing to pay extra taxes in order to support a public insurance plan, gaining support on that front can be quite difficult. Congress is also divided regarding whether or not employers should be forced to provide healthcare coverage to their employees. Many Democrats in the House have proposed forcing companies to contribute up to 8% toward of their employees’ payroll in order to help offset the costs if the company chooses not to provide coverage.

So, what’s the bottom line? Clearly, things are still quite unclear! But, what is certain is that changes are coming!