Editorial

Trixcee Comia

Professor Steven Wexler

English 306

13 March 2013

Editorial: Health Care Reform

            The Affordable Care Act is one of President Obama’s tactics to reforming health care in America.  The newly made law involves providing more affordable health care to the public and lifting previous restrictions in the fine print of the insurance policies.  It also allows for the expansion of preventative medicine as well as covering prior medical conditions that once deemed one ineligible to receive coverage.  One of the newest additions to the act is breast cancer genetic testing.  The Affordable Care act allows women to be covered by their insurance for the screening of the breast cancer genes BRCA₁ and BRCA₂.  Women who posses this gene are at higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.  Exams such as this were not previously covered in the former health policies.

            Those against the new reform believe it to be a step towards socialization.  Mandating the public to have health insurance violates one’s freedom to elect not to have health coverage.  It can be argued that the reform allows for excessive government intervention.  It allows for government expansion into the personal lives of the people.  The genetic cancer screenings and other preventative health care services are very expensive and only further add to the nation’s spending deficient. 

            Prior to the health care reform, the United States was one of the few countries left without universal health care for its people.  Assuring one’s health is essential for one’s quality of life.  Before the affordable care act, the breast cancer genetic testing was not available to all. Now women have access to it and significantly lower their chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer.  This is a step in the right direction for public wellbeing.  Universal health care functions just as the laws enforcing seatbelt usage in motor vehicles.  It is mandatory for you to wear your seatbelt in a car for your own safety.  Millions of dollars more are wasted upon diseases that could have easily been prevented such as lung cancer developed by smokers.  Under the health care reform, preventative services, such as cessation programs will be provided through health insurance. This essentially saves more money spending on preventative care as opposed to treating the disease developed from lack of preventative care.

            In regards to the Affordable Care Act, the benefits greatly supersede its costs.  It is an investment in human kind.  According to the American Cancer Society, there are “about 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women.”  With the health care reform, women now stand a fighting chance to drastically lower the number of new cases of breast cancer victims. Equal health coverage is something that has been lacking in America. With this reform, we secure our necessity for optimal living conditions. Very rarely does government intervention benefit society as a whole, but the appropriate steps are being taken which does not interfere significantly in private business but at the same time also greatly aids its citizens.