Posted by WODU Radio | Posted in | Posted on 2:22 PM
President Barack Obama signed the sweeping health-care reform that has been the subject of nearly nonstop debate into law Tuesday. The law will bring near-universal coverage to millions of currently uninsured Americans, including many young people. Obama’s signing of the bill is the final step in a year-long battle that has defined the beginning of his presidency.
Even as 12 states now plan to file lawsuits over the bill, and Republicans still stand strongly against it, the signing was celebrated by Democrats. They believe that this law is the greatest social change in the last 50 years.
“It’s been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing, to wonder if there are limits to what we as a people can still achieve,” Obama said.
The new law, which had passed the Senate last Dec. 24, passed after a very close vote in the House of Representatives Sunday. The final $940 billion bill is expected to extend health insurance coverage to 32 million additional Americans. It also will force Americans to carry some form of health insurance or pay a fine.
Obama added, “I’m signing this reform bill into law on behalf of my mother, who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days.”
Many of the plan’s goals will begin to take shape over the next four years, which has drawn some criticism from liberals, to which Obama also responded during the signing, “It will take four years to implement fully many of these reforms, because we need to implement them responsibly.
“We need to get this right… this year, we’ll start offering tax credits to about 4 million small businessmen and women to help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees. This year, tens of thousands of uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions, the parents of children who have a preexisting condition, will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need. And this year, young adults will be able to stay on their parents’ policies until they’re 26 years old. That happens this year.”
This is important to many college students. Students who graduate from college will now be allowed to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies longer, so that they can get coverage while they look for a job and begin to build a life of their own.
However, many remain skeptical of the bill, arguing that work is necessary before the bill is fair for all Americans.
Even as 12 states now plan to file lawsuits over the bill, and Republicans still stand strongly against it, the signing was celebrated by Democrats. They believe that this law is the greatest social change in the last 50 years.
“It’s been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing, to wonder if there are limits to what we as a people can still achieve,” Obama said.
The new law, which had passed the Senate last Dec. 24, passed after a very close vote in the House of Representatives Sunday. The final $940 billion bill is expected to extend health insurance coverage to 32 million additional Americans. It also will force Americans to carry some form of health insurance or pay a fine.
Obama added, “I’m signing this reform bill into law on behalf of my mother, who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days.”
Many of the plan’s goals will begin to take shape over the next four years, which has drawn some criticism from liberals, to which Obama also responded during the signing, “It will take four years to implement fully many of these reforms, because we need to implement them responsibly.
“We need to get this right… this year, we’ll start offering tax credits to about 4 million small businessmen and women to help them cover the cost of insurance for their employees. This year, tens of thousands of uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions, the parents of children who have a preexisting condition, will finally be able to purchase the coverage they need. And this year, young adults will be able to stay on their parents’ policies until they’re 26 years old. That happens this year.”
This is important to many college students. Students who graduate from college will now be allowed to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies longer, so that they can get coverage while they look for a job and begin to build a life of their own.
However, many remain skeptical of the bill, arguing that work is necessary before the bill is fair for all Americans.
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