Obama's health care reform plan for all Americans to receive health insurance passed Monday.
"After a century of striving, after a year of debate, after a historic vote, health care reform is no longer an unmet promise," said Obama in a White House press release. "It is the law of the land. And although it may be my signature that's affixed to the bottom of this bill, it was your work, your commitment, your unyielding hope that made this victory possible."
By 2011, the health care bill ensures it will be illegal for insurance companies to deny children coverage due to pre-existing conditions, no one will be dropped from insurance due to developed illnesses, Medicare patients will receive free preventive care with no co-pays and children will be able to stay on their parent's health care plan until the age of 26.
"A lot of health insurance companies already had it listed that you could stay on your parent's health insurance until you were 26," said Penny Shelton, master's in public administration and GTA in political science. "So that is not a huge really exciting part of the health care bill."
Shelton said the state of Alabama's health insurance laws should not change dramatically because a majority of insurance companies already allow college students to stay on parental plans until receiving an undergraduate degree.
Some parts of the bill will begin immediately, while others will not take affect until after Obama's current term as president.
"Immediate effects is not going to be an issue," said Brent Sobkowiak, master's in public administration political science. "We are not going to see the effects of this health care bill for three years."
Sobkowiak said the conservatives thought the bill was going to ruin the system with the government controlling a huge percent of the economy because health care makes up 16 percent.
"We as average wage earners (under $200,000) could look at somewhere about $400 a year increase in social security and medicare taxes," Sobkowiak said. "So is it worth a $400 tax burden or increase?"
Sobkowiak said yes, if the goal is to provide health care for everybody, a promise of which he remains skeptical.
The bill proposes health care for the 32 million Americans currently uninsured, even those refusing coverage.
Rene P. McEldowney, the program director of the political science department, made a break-down for her students of how the health care reform bill will be introduced.
"Health insurance is really about cost sharing more than it is about risk insurance," McEldowney said. "The difference is when you take out a homeowners insurance policy, you're insuring against the risk of that house catching fire or damages, but we all get sick and die, so it is 100 percent risk that we are going to use the health care system."
Some highlights in the next 90 days are tax credits for small businesses to purchase insurance for employees, prescription drug help for seniors and individuals with pre-existing conditions will be able to purchase health insurance as well as the people in the high-risk pool deemed uninsurable.
"The people who do take out health insurance and pay their premiums end up paying for those that don't," McEldowney said. "That is called the 'free rider' system in health care and the reform will eliminate that aspect so everybody has to pay their fair share."
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