Birmingham University Labour Students

This Morning saw the US senate gather to pass the all important bill which will mean healthcare for as many as 30 million Americans. It has been baffling for all but the most right-wing of English people how a country as civilised and wealthy as the US can happily demand that its people hold valid car insurance while failing to do the same for people’s healthcare.

Here in the UK it is generally seen as a given that if you get sick you’ll have someone to look after you, in the form of the NHS. If you break your leg you will not have to pay for the medical costs. Not so in the US of course, their love of the free market and innate fear of anything left has meant that despite attempts by several presidents to change the way Americans are treated regarding their healthcare, a system in which healthcare insurance is optional has remained until now.

The bill focuses on two general areas. On the one hand it supports individuals. The bill expands the government-run program to provide insurance to the poor and mandates insurance companies to offer patients insurance whatever their medical history. It also improves subsidies for those who cannot get insurance through their employer.

And on the other it places restrictions on companies. They will no longer be able to drop customers arbitrarily. Similarly for those who have conditions that are long-term, such as diabetics, the bill creates a high-risk group which will have focused support to enable them to have a healthcare plan. Finally it stops companies dropping customers who are made redundant.

What the bill means is that those 30 million people will be legally obliged to perches insurance from a private company. It does not seem to solve a problem but merely adds an extra layer to an existing one. People do not have insurance because they cannot afford it; the fact of the matter is that many Americans are feeling the brunt of the recession, just as we are across the Atlantic. 15 million Americans, about three per cent, are out of work, and millions more are on the minimum wage $7.25, about £4.50. Even when you include the government subsidies it still seems rich for politicians to ask people to part with more cash. Better surely to cut the middle man, as many democrats wanted, and produce as system which did not include private companies. What this bill does then is to make the healthcare system in the US more privatised not less, the arguments that it will provide support for millions don’t seem to add up if those who it is trying to support cannot afford the premiums.

Joshua Lindsey-Turner, Editor of BULS Social Resources