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Health care reform affects students
By: Jackie Oesmann, news editor
Just a few short weeks ago, the U.S. Congress passed the Affordable Health Care Act, and since then, the country has been up in arms over the issue.
But do Americans really understand all of the changes that the bill will bring? Dr. Jeff Bloodworth, a Gannon University assistant professor in the history department, said that the bill is less liberal and not as drastic as many people believe. “The left doesn’t like it and the right hates it, so that makes me think that there’s something good about it,” he said. “It’s a careful, moderate, mainstream bill; this was not the radical earth changing bill the liberals wanted or conservatives feared.” There are many different parts of the Affordable Health Care Act that cover everything from government regulation of insurance policies to redefining medical concepts of pre-existing conditions, but a few major points directly affect college-aged people. Bloodworth, who is also the adviser for Campus Democrats, said that the two main points young adults should be concerned about are the change in health coverage limitations and the mandate to have health insurance. Story Continued....
According to a White House press release, one in three young adults are currently uninsured, but with the new plan, workplace and retiree health insurance plans can now allow parents to add their children under age 27 to their health coverage on a tax-free basis. Emily Oswald, a senior political science major, said that she was grateful for this change. “For me, this is a good thing because as of right now I don’t have a job set up for after graduation next week,” she said. “It is scary to me that I won’t be covered for some time.” Health insurance will also be mandatory for everyone to have, although state-based “Health Insurance Exchanges” that begin in 2014 will help create lower prices and offer assistance packages for those who cannot afford it. Bloodworth said that the bill was supposed to make health care more affordable. “They did not create a government program,” he said. “They called it the public option, but did not create a government-run health insurance program. The idea is that this bill will make it affordable, and if
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