Allow me to share few thoughts here about our country’s new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
PPACA is primarily an insurance reform bill that promises benefits such as lower prices, some preventive health care support, and guarantees insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. It also mandates that young adults under 26 years old can stay on their parent’s health care plan and that restaurant chains post calorie content on their menus (see more benefits here).
However, it does require that each of us purchase insurance (or pay a tax) and offers little in actually reforming the health care system we currently have, which is more literally a “disease care system.”
No matter how well received PPACA is (or isn’t), we still need massive health care reform based more on a preventive health care model rather than totally focused on “disease repair.” With a preventive model, we can support and even incentivize:
- More personal responsibility and healthy living
- Educating our youngsters at home and in school to make healthy choices — learning good habits early on in childhood is key to preventing many of the chronic diseases our health care system is ill-equipped to handle
- Helping to provide our families with better access to healthier food
What’s being called Obamacare is a good start in the long overhaul necessary for major reform. No real change in our health care system has been made since Medicare and Medicaid was initiated in 1965. It’s about time we tackled one of our country’s biggest economic and social challenges.
What do you think is the first change that needs to be added to PPACA legislation?
Image courtesy of Thanks, Obamacare.org
Haas Health Online 