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Summary Today house republicans voted to remove a proposed advisory board in the 2010 health care reform law and won. This is a significant vote because it will make the vote in the senate that much more important. This article also talks about how the rejection of this advisory board may split the American people into 3 groups, one that doesn’t like the bill since it was created in 2010, another that wants to hurt Obama’s re-election, and health care providers and insurers who are unwilling to commit to healthcare reforms. Also the debate currently going on in congress is similar to the debate 2 years ago which called the advisory board a death panel that would be able to choose which groups of senior citizens and which doctors would get coverage. Republicans want to eventually let the Medicare and Medicaid system run on its own instead of a government run program. Republicans also oppose the president whom they believe is deciding who gets what. Others are seeing that motivation from inside change, is not sufficient and that more has to be done to gain support for this government program. Relevance The topic of government run programs on reform relate to Honors American Studies because this situation can be directly correlated with the New Deal programs that Franklin Delano Roosevelt set up in the 1930’s because he set up programs that were meant to be reform programs for the future problems that they may face. Programs such as Social Security can be related to Health Care because both programs were aimed at making better futures for the needy and retired. The health care bill shadows over Social Security by being structured the same ways. The health care bill is set up to be monitored by the government and it is supposed to give money to doctors whose patients cannot pay the full cost for medical visits, checkups, or procedures. This bill was set up as more of a safety net for those who might have the money but would not be able to afford anything else if the paid for the medical procedure themselves. Both programs are good ideas and they both give money to the poor but unlike Social Security there may not be enough funding for health care at this time. Evaluation Reform is by definition means to put change into an improved form or condition. The news of the republicans rejecting the advisory board of the health care reform law is changing the way that Americans look at what America really wants from Medicare and Medicaid. It seems that congress wants to make medical visits and medical procedures government run. Unfortunately, this reform helps more Americans than it hurts (no irony intended). Insurers are still going to give people a good insurance policy for medical care as long as they intend to pay for that premium medical coverage. Many Americans feel that the government medical coverage should be the bare minimum, but who would be able to decide how low this coverage goes? It would be very difficult to judge such a minimum; and this is why insurers are afraid to see how the government turns out this number. This shows reform because it is changing the way that people get medical care and is improving the way that the change occurs, it might even be forcing the change upon the medical industry and insurers, but it is doing more good for those who need it. 48 million Americans receive Medicare, so this shows how much good something like this can do. It may turn away the republicans, but it helps everyone, congress can’t appease everyone.

Questions?
 * 1) 1. What groups would be denied Medicare with the new advisory board?
 * 2) 2. What would the advisory board consist of, doctors or politicians?
 * 3) 3. Who would be most affected by the decisions that the board would make?
 * 4) 4. How many times will health care be denied before congress gives up on the idea completely?
 * 5) 5. What is the minimum coverage, and is the minimum coverage a part of an insurance plan?
 * 6) 6. Will the Senate pass the board?

Cohen, Tom, Laurie Ure, and Deirdre Walsh. "House Votes to Repeal Key Health Care Reform Provision - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. .  "Medicare (United States)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Mar. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_%28United_States%29>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Reform." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform>.