Two-Column Web Journal

Brigitte Wilcox

Mr. Palo

Gov P4

18 January 2011

Two-Column Web Journal

URL #1: http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf

Facts/Arguments from the source ·         Healthcare costs are skyrocketing ·         Tens of millions of Americans are uninsured due to increased costs ·         Healthcare plan designed to reduce inefficiency and improve healthcare quality

Personal Response I wonder how healthcare can be both improved and reduced in cost, but I accept that I don’t know enough to understand it and still believe it is possible.

Citation:

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan to Lower Healthcare Costs and Ensure Affordable, Accessible Health      Coverage for All." Organizing for America | BarackObama.com. 2008. Web. <http://www.barackobama.com/>.

URL #2: http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/obamas_health_care_plan.html

Facts/ Arguments from the source ·         By 2017, one dollar out of every five spent in America will go toward healthcare costs ·         The US healthcare system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives ·         Obama's plan calls for a ten billion dollar federal investment in healthcare information technology over five years.

Personal Response This article uses irrelevant facts to persuade its reader: although the US healthcare system maybe be CURRENTLY ranked next-to-last, the point of the plan is to improve it. This article harps on Obama’s lack of detail in his plan, but it too lacks detail about what detail his plan lacks.

Citation:

Ragain, Michael. "Obama's Health Care Plan." American Thinker. 2010. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. <http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/obamas_health_care_plan.html>.

URL #3: http://change.gov/agenda/health_care_agenda/

Arguments/Facts from the source ·         plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing health care system, and uses existing providers, doctors, and plans ·         patients will be able to make health care decisions with their doctors, instead of being blocked by insurance company bureaucrats ·         Under the plan, if you like your current health insurance, nothing changes, except your costs will go down by as much as $2,500 per year. If you don’t have health insurance, you will have a choice of new, affordable health insurance options.

Personal Response This sounds ideal, but now I’m questioning if Obama can really deliver on his promises. It sounds too easy. And couldn’t patients already make health care decisions with their doctors? I never particularly liked the people who spoke so vehemently against Obama and his ideas for health care reform, but now I’m beginning to question its credibility.

Citation:

"Health Care | Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team." The Office of the President-Elect. Web. <http://change.gov/agenda/health_care_agenda/>.

            This research has made me confused about what I think of the health care plan. It sounds ideal; apparently it will improve the quality of currently existing health care plans while simultaneously reducing costs on both individual and national levels, but how is that possible? Neither side was particularly clear on the “how” details: pro-planners simply declared that these things would be true without any evidence to support it, while anti-planners screamed that these things were impossible without explicating how.

            In general, if Obama can really deliver what he promises in his health care reform, than I am for it. If the health care reform is passed but does not live up to its expectations, then I would have to wait and see what the consequences are before passing judgment. Somehow, however, I doubt that it will truly change my everyday life either way.