Students navigate road to health care reform

March marked the historical signing of a bill ending a century-long initiative

to reform health care and end corruption in insurance agencies.

The bill extends coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans

nationwide by 2014.

While referring to the Health Care Bill, Obama pointed out that the program

“won’t fix every problem in our health care system in one fell swoop,” but,

he said it is a “major step forward toward giving Americans with insurance

and those without a sense of security when it comes to their health.”

Thirty percent of young adults ages 19 to 29 are uninsured and the new bill

will impact them immediately.

Adult children 26 and under are now eligible to stay on their parent’s insurance

policy. If students opt out of this option, then traditional health care will

cost less than that of middle-aged adults.

Josiah Cantrell, 20-year-old SCC student, says that although the bill will benefi

t him, he is concerned that it has upset the balance of power in government.

“I do not understand how the federal government is able to mandate that over

private insurance companies. As I understand, that is not in the Constitution

as a power they can hold,” Cantrell said.

Under the bill, traditional health insurance packages may cost more than

what students are currently paying, but they will be required to buy them unless

they qualify for an exemption.

Citizens who reject the mandate to obtain health insurance could face

fi nes beginning in 2014 of $95, or 1 percent of income. In the following years,

the fi ne will rise sharply to $695, or 2 percent of income. College students and

those under the age of 18 will be required to pay half this amount.

In a state of conflict

Arizona legislature approved a budget in March with an $8.9 billion spending

plan that will eliminate a health care program that used to cover $47,000

low-income children and $310,000 adults. This plan is in direct conflict with

Obama’s health care plan.

John Kavanagh, state legislator and SCC criminal justice studies professor,

said, “We have authorized the governor to join a lawsuit with other states challenging

the mandate to cover those people,” adding, “If that fails and it comes

down to reestablish coverage or lose all Medicaid benefi ts, we will reestablish

coverage.”

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill April 1 that allows her to disregard the refusal

of Arizona’s attorney general, Terry Goddard, to join the growing lawsuit.

There are 14 other states involved in the lawsuit.

“If we have to restore (coverage) it will cost the state about three quarters

of a billion dollars per year and that means the reductions the sales tax increase

was supposed to prevent will occur anyway. If the sales tax fails, there

will be deeper budget cuts than anyone could have imagined,” Kavanagh said.

These cuts will be spread across education, public safety and state parks,

Kavanagh said.

Opposing viewpoints

Dr. Elisa Faybush, MD, is a gastroenterologist in Phoenix and is originally

from Canada. She says the fact that people have to pay out-of-pocket to seek

her services makes her uncomfortable.

Faybush is understanding of the fact that the new health care changes may

cut her salary, but says she hopes that she can offset her fi nancial losses by the

volume of patients that will now be able to afford her services.

“I hope to see more people. I hope people get help when they need it, not

when they can afford it,” Faybush said.

People who cannot afford health care ultimately end up in the hospital,

Faybush said. Patients run up bills for tests and procedures and taxpayers are

left to pay the costs. “In the end, when someone can’t afford health care at the

present time, we all pay for it.”

Faybush’s colleagues have contrasting opinions. “They are very afraid of

anything that has to do with socialized medicine. They fear their income is

going to get dramatically reduced and they will be working harder for less

money,” Faybush said.

Not all doctors have such a positive outlook about the bill. Dr. Mitch Wagner,

MD, says that the government should not be offering citizens health

insurance other than Medicare. “The Medicare system itself is fraught with

problems so nothing is going to be solved by expanding their (government’s)

role in the health care system,” he said, also noting that he has met very few

doctors in support of the bill.

Wagner said he expects health care to split into two sectors: one with the

government provided care and the second, a private market.

According to Wagner, the amount of time it takes to actually see a doctor

will increase and the quality of care will decrease. “The patients might get

taken care of, but it might not be the quality of care they are used to being

delivered at this time,” he said.

Student loans revamped

Almost lost in the controversy surrounding the Health Care Bill was the

signing of a smaller piece of legislature that overhauls the student loan industry.

President Obama called the bill, “One of the most signifi cant investments in

higher education since the G.I. Bill.”