By Gina Segall ‘12
Co-Science & Tech Editor

One of the most highly publicized and important issues this year has been health care, which is something that affects all people living in the United States. The current U.S. health-care system, ranked 37th in the world according to the World Health Organization, has systemic problems that Congress is trying to repair. Because healthcare is such a highly complex issue, news reports on the subject tend to be complicated and involved. So what exactly is the issue with health care and what are the proposals, in simple terms?

Employer-based care

Present U.S. health insurance is completely voluntary. People in the U.S. who have health insurance generally get it from their employers, but employers can choose whether they want to provide health care for their employees. Employees’ families are perhaps covered by the insurance as well. Only people over 65 have a universal, government-based health-care system, called Medicare. Medicare pays for some medical bills, but it does not pay for prescriptions except through optional coverage.

Pre-existing conditions

Prospective legislation is aiming to solve the dilemma of pre-existing conditions. People with existing health conditions such as heart disease or asthma are either denied insurance or can only get insurance with a very high premium-the cost of insurance. Also, insurance companies can legally drop coverage when people get sick. Additionally, some areas of the country have very low competition of insurance, so insurance companies tend to keep their rates high. People without insurance can accumulate such high medical bills that they may declare bankruptcy.

Universal Healthcare

In 2005, 47% of residents of the U.S. were uninsured according to the U.S. Census Bureau. All healthcare bills under consideration are trying to lower the U.S.’s high number of uninsured people. However, lowering the number is a serious issue because in order to keep health insurance plans from costing too much, the number of people elligible for healthcare must stay low. No proposed healthcare plans would cover illegal immigrants.

Obama’s proposals

President Barack Obama has proposed his ideas to Congress about what should be different about health care. Under Obama’s plan, all Americans will be required by law to have health insurance. People who like their current insurance may keep it. In addition, no longer will insurance companies be able to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or drop coverage when people get sick. Coverage will be required for preventative care, and new plans will be set in action to watch over and eliminate medical malpractice. Finally, a new marketplace will be created called the Exchange, where businesses can shop for health care at competitive prices.

Current Plans of Action

Although the executive branch of government can offer opinions, it does not have the responsibility of constructing the actual legislation. The House of Representatives and the Senate both have several bills proposed at the moment, and they will each be taken into consideration until they come to a vote. Once the House and the Senate have each decided on a bill, a committee will be assembled to reconcile the two. The Senate Finance Committee, one of the Senate committees that proposed a bill, recently passed its bill with a 14 to 9 vote. The Finance Committee’s bill would reduce the deficit- the amount of money the U.S. spends but does not possess- by $81 billion. The House’s three committee bills and the Senate’s health committee bill would both increase the deficit by $239 billion and $611 billion, respectively.