As you know there is a Forthcoming Healthcare change- have you heard of “Obamacare” or Universal Coverage? Class activity- we will begin with background identifying current problems – then we will look to see which of these the new healthcare law proposes to solve. YOUR TASK IS NOT TO TAKE NOTES- Just to follow along, ask questions when you don’t understand and keep a list of problems. Each group gets a cartoon to decipher. – we will call on you when we get to that point in the lecture. 1

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From The New Yorker Sociologist’s Book of Cartoons2004 4

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Social Welfare yesterday, talking about health care and such reminded me of a video by a rather impressive video blogger John Green. I'd like you to see it: In the video, he mentions someone named "Hank:" he is speaking to his brother. They communicate via video blogs -Richard 12

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Overview of the Situation: H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Until now, designing benefits has been the job of insurers, employers and states. But the new health care law requires insurance companies to provide at least the federally approved package if they want to sell to small businesses, families and individuals through new state markets set to open in The health care law requires that essential benefits include outpatient, hospital, emergency, maternal, newborn and children's care, prescription drugs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation, labs, prevention and wellness. But Congress gave the administration lots of leeway to determine the specifics. 14

Beginning in 2014, you can buy into the American Health Benefit Exchange. Modeled after the FEHB, which provides insurance for federal workers including members of Congress, the Exchange is not a centralized, government- controlled plan. Instead, it is a network of choices that are offered at lower cost due to the number of people enrolled. Each state will create its own Exchange. Each Exchange will offer a minimum of two multistate plans managed by the Office of Personnel Management (the governing body of the FEHB). You may select one of the OPM plans or any other plan in the Exchange. Most states will provide Separate Exchanges for individuals and small businesses, although under certain conditions they may be merged. amaplan.htm 15

Exchanges rotate on the concept of shared risk. You may already know that buying into group insurance is cheaper than buying individual insurance. This is because in any group of people, a certain number will become catastrophically ill. The more people in the group, however, the further those costs are spread. For example, if one person requires $1 million in care, his individual insurance would have to absorb all $1 million. If one million people are in the plan, however, that person's costs could be covered by a single dollar from each person. This shared risk allows each member of the group to pay a lower premium. Just like federal employees already do, you will be able to choose from a wide variety of health care plans that meet your individual needs. HMOs, PPOs, fee-for- service plans and other options will all be available through private insurance companies. You can choose a plan with higher deductibles and co-pays but lower premiums, or a higher cost plan with lower per-incident fees. You can visit any doctor you like, including specialists. The specifics will vary according to the plan you choose, but you will not be denied insurance, face higher premiums or be dropped from your plan due to pre-existing conditions, job changes or the onset of illness. amaplan.htm 16

Social Welfare yesterday, talking about health care and such reminded me of a video by a rather impressive video blogger John Green. I'd like you to see it: In the video, he mentions someone named "Hank:" he is speaking to his brother. They communicate via video blogs -Richard