With the longest government shutdown looming over us, there are a lot of questions concerning certain issues, like how will taxes work and whether trash is being collected, to name a few. With concerns of federal funding being thrown around the White House and a bewilderment sweeping the nation, many federal workers are concerned about their health insurance.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/23/health-insurance-becomes-collateral-damage-for-workers-in-shutdown.html
In this news article published on CNBC, Annie Nova focuses on how the government shutdown is affecting the health insurance of government employees. All government employees are guaranteed health coverage through the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB). But what about new hires and those who have changed their plans? Unfortunately, these employees may be stuck in the “bureaucratic slowdown” and may even have to pay out-of-pocket for these expenses. With some employees not receiving a paycheck, paying these expenses are getting harder and harder, and may ultimately lead to termination of their coverage. In addition to this, many contracts of federal employees are expired or will be expiring soon. As health insurance coverage for federal employees adds on to the list of things being affected by the government shutdown, the environment in D.C. doesn’t seem to be letting up.
“By continuing this shutdown, they’re endangering the lives of their employees.”
Jazz Fexton
IRS EMPLOYEE
In class, it was mentioned how powers are being separated in the U.S. federalist system. Expressed power, also known as enumerated powers, are the powers held by the federal government alone. On the other side of the spectrum are reserved powers, which are held for state government. And in the middle, there are concurrent powers, which are powers that are constantly being controlled by federal and state governments. Protecting public health is one of these many concurrent powers. I feel as though health insurance should be supervised by state and required by law, or at least provided by law to better the lives of citizens across the States.
In addition to this article, I have included a picture of statistics showing the number of U.S. citizens that had health insurance in 2009 and in 2015. The data shows that there has been a decrease in those who are uninsured and an increase on those who are insured. Furthermore, these charts show that many Americans have health insurance plans based on their employers. In my opinion, the federal government should be able to provide a certain health care plan that can cover all needs, from dental to medical to vision. Employers should also continue to prove employee benefits and have health insurance plans that can potentially be more rewarding than a federal health care plan.
Although health insurance has been a hot topic in media and in Congress recently, not many people understand the workings of it. Health insurance is not mandated to be handled by any form of government in the U.S. Constitution, just simply regulated in the Elastic Clause. In addition to this, Congress has allowed for the development of federal health insurance programs, like Medicare and Medicaid. Unfortunately, I feel as though these insurance programs are not enough to help the American citizens understand the concept of health insurance, or any insurance for that matter. In order to stop this ignorance, the government and health insurance companies should come together to provide effective workshops to the people and political parties should come together to stop the government shutdown.
Article: Health insurance becomes collateral damage in the government shutdown as some workers face bills for medical costs
Author: Annie Nova
Date of publication: January 23, 2019
Source: CNBC
American Health 