When we talk about political issues that need to be addressed in our society, one topic of interest is health care. The United States of America spent more than $3.3 trillion (or $10,348 per person) in the year 2016— according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services— and $3.5 trillion in expenditures in 2017— as mentioned by the Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget in an article called, “American Health Care: Health Spending and the Federal Budget”. As time moves on, it is projected for the government’s allocated spending for healthcare to grow 5.8% annually and reach 4.64 trillion dollars by 2020. That being said, as informed citizens of the United States, it is important to know the stance of the two major political parties that exist in our government concerning health care.
Democrats tend to have a party image that is often associated with liberal, open-minded, progressive policies, and it is no different than how they confront the issue of abortion. Liberals— who tend to be a part of the Democratic party— want to secure a universal form of health care that is accessible for all of the American people. Some social programs that Democrats are in support of include Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, passed by Obama in 2010 which has been voted to be either repealed or altered over 50 times. Democrats believe that since CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance) has been established and Medicare was introduced in 1965, America has been on a positive trajectory to reform the health care system to allow people the basic securities to ensure that their health care needs are fulfilled.
According to the official website for the Democratic party, the Affordable Care Act has helped more than 20 million Americans, allowing 8 in 10 Americans shopping for health insurance to purchase one for less than $100 per month. To top it off, the Affordable Care Act is said to provide tax cuts to help small businesses offset their expenses if they choose to offer coverage to their workers as well as to help respected families pay for insurance. Those that have pre-existing conditions, for instance, asthma, diabetes, or cancer, can no longer be denied coverage by their insurers. For those reasons and many more, they run on a party platform that is in favor of preserving the program.
Part of the Democratic political ideology is to allow more spending to go to social services and less towards the military. This is so that individuals who need the financial support have the means to go to get checked up and be provided services that are crucial to overcoming illnesses such as cancers and tumors without fear of bankruptcy or overwhelming debt. Extending on the previous note, spending more on social services also includes money used for medical research on studies such as stem cells and amending the prescription drug program that charge unreasonable premiums for certain medication.
In essence, the Democratic party keeps a general position on the subject of healthcare to appeal to Independents and Moderates that are more easily influenced than someone who’s party identification strongly leans towards the Republican party or associates with conservative values. The one main idea that they try to emphasize is the necessity for affordable health care and they envision that future through the promise of Obamacare. Something noteworthy was that information from the internet is more easily accessible when searching researching on Democratic platforms than Republican platforms, most likely because they make good use of their linkage institutions to reach out to their targeted demographic. A reason that may explain this dilemma is that most Conservatives who tend to vote for the Republican party already have a well-rounded concept of the Republican party’s platform since it tends to be similar to the political ideologies from the previous years.
