Romney Vows to Drop Ax on Obamacare

It seems that the future of health care reform in America is still uncertain as the upcoming election could cause a dramatic shift in health care policy. Mitt Romney has already expressed his strong aversion to the Affordable Care Act, also dubbed as ObamaCare. Romney has stated that if elected, he will repeal ObamaCare, and thus leave the issue of uninsured citizens up to the state. Essentially, Romney's plan is to enable each state to construct an individual health care reform plan for its citizens, while the government’s responsibility will be to ensure fair competition. On the surface this may seem like a good idea, and proponents of the measure have cited Massachusetts success with creating its own health care reform plan from redirected monies derived from the federal medicaid program, as proof that health care reform can be successfully run at the state level. The reality is however, that most states, particularly those in debt such as California, will have major issues which will prohibit them from following suit. Massachusetts had a surplus fund of tax money which was reallocated to their citizens in the form of health care coverage, while many other states are not in the position to do so due to a lack of funds. Therefore, this would leave the health care situation as a lingering issue for many states, primarily those where a high population and unemployment rate are concerned. To add fuel to the fire, Romney met with the Columbus Dispatch editorial board this week, and was quoted as saying, "We don't have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don't have insurance." Romney said this in response to claims that millions of uninsured Americans are dying each year due to lack of health coverage. Romney pointed out that people do not stay home and face death even without health coverage, but rather they seek emergency care which is paid for either by charity, government or the hospital. What Romney fails to realize however, is that many individuals without health coverage seek emergency care only when it is too late and there may not be an option for recovery. Furthermore, these "emergency" room visits are costing billions of dollars each year which are being passed down to tax payers, thus contributing to the problem and maintaining the cycle.