Obama Gets The All Clear But Is There Still A Health Risk?

At dawn on Monday, after months of debate, the U.S senate opened the way to Obama's reform of the health care system. The Democrats victory, however, is also being hailed as suicidal, as Republicans say the bill is fatally flawed and although they admitted that at present, they had no force to stop the bill; Republicans warned that Democrats would pay a price in the mid-term elections of November 2010 , when voters would certainly retaliate.

Because of the overwhelming Republican opposition to the reform, the pass was only made possible through wheeling and dealing, when Democrats managed to secure the final two votes they needed, by making some very specific and controversial deals, to Senators for the missing votes. All Senate Republicans are against the bill and public opinion itself is at least 60% opposed to the bill. Minority leader, Mitch McConnell said "this legislation is equivalent to the redesign of our nation and people have already given their verdict: not want it."

Without waiting a moment, Obama himself congratulated the senators claiming that "the Senate has brought us to a reform that represents a tremendous difference for families, seniors, businesses and the country as a whole."

While chief Democrats are justifying their bribes in the spirit of the legislation, the claim that it will eventually be seen to be for the greater cause, is yet to be seen. Although an additional 30 million people will potentially have access to proper health care, at least 25 million people still will not. In addition, many more will feel the effects of increased taxes needed to subsidize the $871 billion price tag. Furthermore, the House and Senate bills both require individuals to buy health insurance, imposing a fine of up to 2.5 percent of a person's income and criminalizing them for noncompliance.

The President of the Service Employees International, Andy Stern, criticized the bill on the grounds that it fell short of the reform necessary. "This is about whether people can afford health insurance. It is not Ben Nelson making deals. It is the American people" Stern said Sunday to CNN, referring to the reluctant senator from Nebraska who finally gave the Democrats the last vote they needed to approve the rule. "I'm as disappointed as anyone," he said.

Obama's top adviser, David Axelrod, criticized the Republicans for trying to stop the bill saying that "the Republican Party spent a month stuck in delaying tactics and parliamentary manoeuvres to try to prevent a vote." He said that this is simply a reflection of the obstructionist tactics used by the enemies of law and that citizens will support the reform as soon as they can learn better.

But Republicans have remained adamant in their opposition. "This bill is a legislative train wreck of historic proportions" said Senator Mitch McConnell adding that the reform will mean cuts to the public health care program Medicare and reductions in payments to home health agencies and hospices. He also indicated that the bill includes "massive tax increases" at a time of high unemployment.

So, whilst the future is still unknown, the historical question remains of whether the implementation of this long awaited bill will do Obama more harm than good?