US Econ Hist 1740
Current Event Paper
Obamacare

The current event I have chosen to write about is Obamacare. While it may not be as “current” as some other topics, it is still a very relevant and current topic that is debated. My view on this policy is that it needs to be changed and should never has been put in place in the first place since 54% of people opposed it when it was put in place1. The Pros and Cons of Obamacare, otherwise known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, are abundant and though both sides have their points it is simply wrong for it to have been put in place without having the majority of people vote for it. The main Pros that are brought up when arguing for it are pretty much exactly what you would expect them to be from a socialist healthcare system. They say it is needed to ensure people who otherwise could not afford coverage, to cover children, and make sure that everyone has healthcare coverage. While that sounds fantastic and I certainly believe that everybody should have access to healthcare, this system is not needed because they already do have access to that and anything else they can imagine, this is America, where you can obtain anything you want as long as you put in the work. This leads me to the next point which is because of systems like this, people do not want to put in the work, they want it handed to them. The backbone of Obamacare has a resounding impact on not just the super-rich or high income citizens. It impacts average middle class working Americans of all ages, I personally have had my deductible increase over 400% while the cost to me has remained the same, along with the deductible increase my prescriptions have been taken from being a simple copay to being applied to my deductible, meaning that even with double coverage of insurance paid for by me and my wife through our employers, I still shell out over $200 per month on prescriptions until I hit my ridiculously high deductible. The reason for that is that the Obamacare plan was to pass on the expenses of coverage to the Pharmacy and Health Care provider companies, who in turn pass it right back on to the people working and paying for their coverage. It comes down to a guy working 40 hours a week and earning $40,000 a year having to pay for somebody else to have coverage who wants to work part time making minimum wage and not better themselves and the community by getting an education, a real job working full time, and pay for it themselves. This kind of laziness is being subsidized by your Federal Government. When it was announced there were many things promised that ended up being lies, first was that your costs and deductibles would not go up because of this, which is simply absurd and ridiculous for any government official to say in a free market society. The move towards high deductible plans has increased at an alarming rate thanks to Obamacare since all patients covered by it are under a high deductible plan and those who weren’t under a high deductible plan