On Wednesday, the 5^th of November, several nations of the world awoke to a change unprecedented in history. The Americans, on the other hand, were winding up after a long day. Many of them could not go to sleep. They were listening with bated breath to the biggest bedtime story ever—of a Black man, Barack Obama, who was just elected as the president of the United States of America.

Obama has promised change - for the people of America and in America’s approach to the rest of the world. In the realm of health he has come forth with a plan that, he believes, would ensure affordable health care options for all.

Health Insurance

The primary goal of Obama’s health care plan is to provide every American with health insurance coverage through public or private means. He wants health care coverage for all Americans that is portable, that favors patient’s choice of doctors and care (without governmental interference) and that would make insurance companies increasingly accountable.

Some of the features of Barack Obama’s health insurance plans are listed below.

• Provide every American, (regardless of pre-existing conditions) health insurance that is affordable

• Ensure that insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions to enable all Americans to get health coverage through fair and stable premiums.

• Provide health insurance that is portable (the insurance remains even if a person changes/ loses his job)

• Mandatory medical health care coverage for children

• Federal public health insurance program for individuals or businesses who are devoid of other health coverage.

• Set up a “National Health Insurance Exchange” to act as a watchdog group for private insurance. The role of this group would be to create standards and make coverage more affordable.

The annual cost estimates for his program is $50-$65 billion. Obama hopes to finance his plan by rolling back Bush’s tax cuts for the rich (those making more than $250,000).

Medical Expenses

Health care experts have opined that Obama’s reforms will save businesses $140 billion and the ordinary American family $2,500 in premiums, annually. The president-elect plans to avoid wastes in the health care system, and provide health coverage to all Americans, in order to bring down the expenses of uncompensated care.

He also proposes to cover some expensive cases and reduce the burden of employers. The employers then are expected to use the savings to reduce the health insurance premiums of their employees.

Some of the other measures towards cost cutting include:-

• Provide easy access to programs that help in managing chronic conditions.

• Conduct programs for cancer screenings, smoking cessation, and others with the help of insurance plans that are federally supported.

• Update health-related IT (Information Technology).

• Ensure transparency. Hospitals are expected to be open about safety, quality and costs of the health care provided.

Drugs

Barack Obama plans to use the bulk purchasing power of the federal government to negotiate for prescription drugs to be bought at a lower rate. He plans to bring forth programs to use more generic drugs. He hopes to encourage generic drugs to enter the market quickly and also looks forward to boosting competition in the drug and insurance markets...