August 31, 2013
'Free' Benefits in ObamaCare Come With Hidden Costs
SUMMARY
This article talks about the widely debated issue of ObamaCare. There is the theme of "there's no such thing as a free lunch." Despite the "free checkups, free mammograms, immunizations and other basic services" (President Obama), taxes are going to have a hay-day with insurance, medical equipment, and drugs. There will still be costs, just hidden in a way that doesn't seem so obvious at first. Someone will still have to pay, just in a way that it will still appear to be "free".
ANAYLSIS
There's an obvious bias that trends throughout this piece. First, you need to realize that this came from Fox News, so it's taking a strict Republican view. The facts that they are looking to are from Republicans; the experts they interviewed are Republican; the Journalist that wrote this piece was Republican; the audience reading it is mainly Republican. This goes back to the very first of the year when Mrs. McMurray over-viewed the importance of knowing who is talking and why. You see the influence of one's political party coming through the media that is being read or watched. Because of this bias, we don't understand the full spectrum of the story. We clearly see the conservative view of ObamaCare--the belief that there are hidden costs, the fear of tax dollars being raised-- but we don't see the liberal point of view.
Even if we were to read an article about this same topic from a far left, we would still come out with high amounts of bias. The Republicans may see ObamaCare as an extreme infringement on their rights, and the Democrats may see it as a necessary and beneficial program, but the truth may be somewhere in the middle. I'm generalizing here. Not all Democrats stand in favor of ObamaCare, and not all Republicans are collecting pitchforks and torches, just waiting for their chance to run President Obama out of office.
There may be some truth to this article. ObamaCare may, in fact, have hidden price tags that aren't obvious at first glance. This begs the question, though, are those hidden price tags worth the paying? There is an analogy used in this article, comparing these costs to owning a restaurant with the government's set price for a hamburger: "Let’s say you told them they can only charge $10.95 for that burger, but the cost of the beef, the bun, the vegetables, keeps rising. That squeezes their profit margins. Eventually they have no profit and they're losing money on producing that burger." (Dr. Ramin Oskoui).
Republicans--using a generalized extremist term-- would be appalled by the price of the hamburger and the lack of profit for the business owner. On the opposite side of extremist spectrum, Democrats would find the need for the hamburger to outweigh the lack of profits for the restaurant owner. These two scenarios, however, are not the only ones.
My stance on this, as with many other topics, is a need for a little bit of both. ObamaCare is not the best option, I suppose, but it's not the worst, either. There is a need for some of the benefits that ObamaCare would provide, especially for those who do not have the financial stability as many of those who argue passionately against this program. But the opinion of those who are more financially sound must also be taken into account. We talked about how this government is supposed to recognize the majority without infringing on the rights of the minority. The minority is not always the poor starving Americans that we are led to believe that it is. The majority--those who would reap the benefits of ObamaCare-- may hurt the majority--those who would end up paying for ObamaCare.
We have a right to earn money, to make a living for ourselves and our families, to advance ourselves in life. When does this right interfere with the right of those to receive insurance?
Overall, I agree and disagree with the article I read. I understand the bias that is taken when this article was written, and also the bias that would be equally as strong in an article of the opposing view. There are things that are necessary about this program and the issue at hand, but this isn't the best way to handle it.
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