Nation's Budget Dedicates $634 Billion to Health Care

Gearing up for health care reform

President Barack Obama’s presidential address last night was aimed at instilling hope in the American people and inspiring confidence in their leader. That speech didn’t come a moment too soon.

Obama plans to unveil his plans for the nation’s budget tomorrow. Among those plans, he’d like to dedicate $634 billion over the next 10 years to a health care “reserve fund” that would help pay for overhauling the country’s health care system.

The process begins

Obama’s ultimate plan is to provide universal health coverage. The first step in his 10-year plan is to start a dialogue with Congress on what to do about the 48 million uninsured Americans.

Congress has already approved $32 billion to expand coverage for children in low-income families and $19 billion fund computerization of health records.

A pricey system

Officials called the fund a “down payment” for health care reform. Experts say the cost of paying for all uninsured Americans to have access to health care could easily exceed $1 trillion over 10 years.

Part of the problem is the high cost of health care.

Some experts say 30 percent or more of what the nation spends may be going for tests and treatments of little or no lasting benefit.

Hurting families

Obama says medical bills are a leading cost of individual bankruptcy. The cost of and spending on health care have both continued to rise, even as the economy shrinks.

White House officials say slowing increases in the cost of health care and ensuring everyone has coverage is essential, in the long run, to solving the nation’s budget problems.

More budget requests

Obama’s budget also seeks to extend the $400-per-year tax credit to workers. It also proposes increasing the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.5 percent. The proposed budget would also update the alternative minimum tax, which reportedly would add $150 billion to the deficit by 2013. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Nation's Budget Dedicates $634 Billion to Health Care"