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Vickie Truitt Christina Cedillo Freshman Comp I 30 November 2013 Obamacare The leading cause of death in the United States are tobacco use, insufficient physical activity, and an unhealthy diet (Doing Good and Doing Well: Corporate Social Responsibility on Post Obamacare America). There is no doubt that the need for health care in America is rising. Individuals are becoming more obese and more are likely to develop bad habits such as smoking or not engaging in physical activity. These bad habits are contributing to the rising statistics of chronic illnesses that we will talk about later. The governments answer to this problem is The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Obamacare was introduced in 2010 by our President Barack Obama, his intentions of this bills are somewhat unclear. Of course everyone having access to healthcare is a wonderful thing. I know as well as anyone that if you dont have some kind of insurance then most physicians and hospitals will turn you away, which is wrong, but it is how it works. They claim under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance will be affordable to everyone and those that cant afford it can receive financial aid to help pay for it. Now they claim that this is not going to be a new tax on the working people, but where is this financial aid money coming from? Most say that this is a good thing because when someone without insurance goes to the hospital the bills gets

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knocked off and we have to pay it, well if we are getting taxed to cover their insurance then isnt that the same thing? Also passing this gives the government even more of a way to dictate our lives. Chronic illness in the United States is definitely a rising issue that should be addressed. The tobacco rate is growing along with the fatality rate of cancer. Also the rate of obesity is rising along with the rates of hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, and congestive heart failure. The government is aware of this and they are trying to get some of the money that they know goes into health care. The government will gain a new kind of control over your life if you buy one of their insurance plans, they can now control your health also. When purchasing your health care insurance, in the fine print, it tells you that any testing or medications ordered by the physician can be questioned on medical necessity and will be determined by the health insurance agency criteria. I have had to deal with this first hand working at a doctors office and not only is it time consuming but sometimes the medications and procedures the patients need are denied and that can be life threatening. This is true with some insurance agencies, but the majority of the problems I have are with government funded ones such as Soonercare that we have now. Why should the government gain that kind of control? Last time I checked none of them have gone to medical school. Those of us in the medical profession went to school for a reason. Also it gives them the authority to decide which doctor you can go to, now lets say you are a 50 year old woman and you sign up for this insurance. You also have been going to the same doctor for the past 30 years and now with this new insurance they are telling you that you have to go to a new doctor, whom you have never met and they know nothing of your medical history. Doesnt seem fair does it? Not only are they enforcing the purchase

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of health insurance but they are going to penalize those that do not purchase any. In 2016, the penalty will be the greater of 2.5% of the household income, or $2,085 for a family (but in no case more than the cost of the insurance they should have bought (Obamamcare). Congress gains the right to penalize for not purchasing insurance through the Commerce Clause. Their agreement is as a backup, that if the mandate is not authorized under the Commerce Clause, the penalty it imposes for failing to have the required insurance is nonetheless constitutional as an exercise of the Congresss authority to levy taxes (Obamacare). Even though President Obama specifically assured Americans that the penalty is not a tax. Requiring people to take responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase.Nobody considers that a tax increase Obama said. He says Requiring people to take responsibility well he needs to realize some people will not take responsibility for anything. He is wanting to help people after they are already sick, why dont we try doing preventative care. Stopping the chronic illnesses before they happen? If he wants to talk about people taking responsibility for themselves then why not have them take responsibility in their daily activity and their diet? Try to encourage healthy habits like eating less fast food, exercising at least 30 minutes a dayetc. Treat your body like you would a car. You dont just put any kind of gas in it, you dont let it just sit there and rustwhy? Because it will stop working. Same principle goes for your body.

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Lets face it though America has grown to be lazy and expect a pill or procedure to fix what they do to themselves. They expect if I get high blood pressure there is a pill I can take, if I get diabetes I can take medicine or insulin to control my sugar. Well they need to realize that those only work for so long until they dont work anymore. I think the government should focus more on preventative care for the people. The sole purpose of Obamacare is to make America a healthier place, why not start by lowering prices of healthier food? Or open up free gyms for the public? Encourage more smoker to call those 1800-quitnow lines to help them stop smoking? Help prevent the disease before it happens. The thought of everyone being healthier is a great thing, but the government needs to realize that giving people health insurance isnt going to help them do that. The people need to make the decision to be healthier, and they have to want it. This may sound harsh but having access to health care is pointless if you are going to continue to do what made you sick in the first place. You will only be wasting everyones time. People need to take responsibility for their health and stop depending so much on medications to fix their problems. That is how we can make a healthier America.

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Work Cited HOFF, JOAN S. Obamacare. Independent Review 18.1 (2013: 5-20, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 November 2013.

Corbett, James and Manel Kappagoda Doing good and doing well: Corporate Social Responsibility in Post Obamacare America. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 41, pp. 17-21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.